Another Day Another Danger
by LilyGhost
Summary: A trip to the mall with Lula takes a dangerous turn for Stephanie when she comes face to face with a former skip. Story three in a five part series and is set after Distraction Action. This is an established Ranger/Stephanie relationship story.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is set not long after Distraction Action. I tried to keep with the spirit of Janet Evanovich's books so any familiar characters, places, or phrases belong to her. And I've never been to the Quaker Bridge Mall so I had to rely on an online map for a general idea as to where some places were located, and on my imagination for the rest. Any, and all, mistakes are mine. Warnings for some language and smut.**

I was in a state of professional euphoria for the first time since working for Vinnie. Okay, in all honesty, it was the first time _ever._ And I was pretty sure this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, since I'm not all that good at my job, so I felt I had to share it with someone while it lasted.

I made the ten minute drive to Rangeman. I parked my car and took the short elevator ride to Ranger's apartment. As soon as the elevator opened I hurried to Ranger's door, skipping the intercom button altogether, and knocked impatiently. Ranger opened the door to me before I managed a second knock. Most likely someone had called from the control room and told him that I was on my way up. I waited just long enough for the door to be mostly open before I launched myself at him. Ranger absorbed the impact without moving, and wrapped his arms tight around me. I locked my legs around his waist, and leaned back to look at him.

"_I did it!_" I said."I caught Leon Wilsten!"

"You're this excited about catching a skip?" Ranger asked."Babe, that's what you do for a living."

I blew out a sigh and pushed against him. Ranger closed the door but he didn't let go of me.

"You don't get it," I said to Ranger."I captured Leon without _any_ problems _at all_. I didn't get shot at, spit on, chased, or attacked. I also didn't roll in garbage of any kind. And my car didn't blow up."

"Okay," Ranger said,"now the excitement makes sense. This must be some kind of record for you."

"It is," I said to him."And you're killing all my happy feelings."

"Wouldn't want to do that," Ranger said, his breath warm on my neck.

My happy feelings were in danger of turning into another kind of feeling altogether.

"You can put me down now," I said to Ranger.

"I like you where I've got you," Ranger said.

"I didn't come here for sex."

"I know, Babe, but since you're here ..."

"You're impossible," I said, smiling.

I broke free of Ranger's hold and got back to my feet. I put my bag down on the sideboard next to the door, and headed towards the kitchen. Ranger had an open bottle of beer sitting on the breakfast bar. The bottle was more than half-full, and would no doubt be dumped down the drain since I've rarely seen Ranger finish a drink. And Ranger doesn't drink when he's working. Unlike me. I've found that my work actually improves after a beer, or two. Or, at least, it seems to improve. Being the economical person that I am, I couldn't justify wasting perfectly good beer so I helped myself to the rest of it.

"How was _your_ day?" I asked Ranger, setting the empty bottle back on the counter.

"The usual. Break-ins and bad guys."

"Sounds exciting."

"Not really. And since I was away from the office for most of the day, I'll be busy this evening catching up on paperwork."

"Jeez, that's too bad," I said to Ranger."I was hoping we'd be able to spend some_ quality time_ together tonight."

He moved in close, and looked down at me with dark eyes."What exactly did you have in mind?"

Now I know I just said that I didn't come here for sex, but Rangerdidsay he had to work tonight. So I should be able to flirt all I want and still be safe, right?

"It doesn't matter now," I said."You have to work. It's a shame, too. I came up with some really good ways on how we could spend the time."

Ranger reached out and grabbed my hips, pulling me flat against him."I could spare an hour for you, Babe."

"Sorry," I said to him."I would need a lot more than an hour," I said."You're just going to have to wait."

"I'm not good at waiting," Ranger said. I could feel his lips brush my ear when he spoke.

No kidding!

He kissed the spot below my ear before moving his lips along my jawline. By the time he got to my mouth, _I_ was the one having problems waiting. Luckily, my cell rang before I caved.

"Ignore it," Ranger said against my lips.

The phone kept ringing.

I did a mental sigh."I can't ignore it," I said, and hurried back to the front door where I left my bag. I looked at the number display. Crap. It was my mother.

"What's up?" I asked, when I answered.

"_What's up?_" My mother repeated."That's not how you're supposed to answer a telephone. Why can't you just say _'hello' _like a civilized person?"

"Hello," I said."What's up?"

I heard my mother sigh at the other end of the line. Probably she was asking herself how she ended up with a daughter like me.

"Have you seen your grandmother?"

"No, why?" I said."Is there something wrong?"

"She snuck out of the house early this morning," my mother said."And I haven't seen, or heard from, her since."

"Maybe she's spending the day with one of her friends."

"This is your grandmother we're talking about," my mother said."Why would she sneak out unless she was going to be doing something that she shouldn't? She didn't even come home for dinner."

My Grandma Mazur, like all Burg women at that time, married young. She stayed home and raised her children. She made sure dinner was on the table at six o' clock every night. And her house was always spotless. But ever since my grandfather died, she's changed. I'd say she's changed for the better. My mother and father would disagree. And while her body is aging, her mind seems to be taking frequent dips in the fountain of youth. She's in her seventies, looks like she's in her nineties, and acts likes she's in her twenties. And when I get to be her age, I hope to be just like her. Who am I trying to kid? I wish I could be more like her_ now_.

"Have you already checked around the neighborhood?"

"I called everyone I could think of that might know where she has disappeared to," she said."I even sent your father out looking for her. But he's probably at the lodge playing cards by now."

"I'm sure she's okay."

"Honestly, I don't know what she's thinking sometimes."

"Do you want me to come over and keep you company till she comes home?"

"Yes," my mother said."I've already ironed everything in the house."

Some people drink when they're upset. Other people take pills. When my mother is upset, she irons. She's been known to iron the same shirt for hours if the situation was bad enough.

"I'll be right over," I said, and disconnected.

I looked over at Ranger. He had come up behind me and heard my end of the conversation.

"Grandma ran away from home?" He asked, smiling.

"Looks like," I said."I have to go and keep my mother company until she gets back."

"Lucky you."

I picked up my car keys, and settled my bag on my shoulder."I don't know how long Grandma will be so I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Ranger backed me against the wall, and leaned into me. The weight of his body had me effectively pinned, preventing me from moving. Not that I was in any hurry to move. Ranger felt great pressed against me. And if I was being totally honest, leaving Ranger's apartment and going to my parents' house, missing grandma or not, was the last thing I wanted to do.

"You're going to have a lot to make up for," Ranger said

"Hey, that's not fair," I said to Ranger."_I_ didn't tell Grandma to sneak out of the house."

"That's not what I'm talking about," Ranger said.

Uh-oh. I should know better by now. It's_ never _safe to flirt with Ranger. He never gives up, or backs down, if there's something he wants. Fortunately, _this time _we both wanted the same thing or I'd be in trouble.

I wrapped my arms around Ranger's neck, and snuggled into him."I guess I'll have to put much more thought into this," I said, kissing his chin."I wouldn't want you to think I'm a tease."

I brushed my lips across his in a light kiss and somehow managed to get myself even closer to him. Ranger took over from there. His hand cupped the back of my head, and he kissed me. Our tongues touched, and I got warm in all the right places. And I might have moaned a little. Ranger never did anything by half-measures. When he did finally end the kiss, I was having a hard time standing. My heart was pounding, and my vision was a little fuzzy.

"You have to stop doing that," I whispered.

"You started it, Babe," he said.

Okay, that was true. But still ...

Ranger kissed me lightly on the lips before taking a step back."I think you should leave for your parents' house," Ranger said,"while you still have the option."

I knew a warning when I heard one.

"Okay," I said, opening the front door to leave."I'm going. I'll see you tomorrow."

I got in the elevator and pushed the button for the garage level. When the doors opened, I got out and stood for a moment breathing in the night air. By the time I got my car door open my blood, along with some other parts, had mostly cooled down.

I drove to my parents' house and parked behind my father's Buick. Since my father was home, either Grandma had come back already or his game had ended early. I was guessing the latter. Nothing would make my father happier than having Grandma Mazur disappear permanently. So the chances of him actively searching for her were not good. I heaved myself out of the car and headed inside. My father was in his chair in front of the television. I looked around the room. No Grandma.

"Did Grandma come home yet?" I asked my father.

"No," he said, smiling."It hasn't been this quiet in _years_."

From the moment Grandma Mazur moved in with my parents, there's been a constant battle between my father and my grandmother. They fought over the television, over the bathroom, over pretty much _everything_. My mother has since removed the gun my father used to keep in the house for protection. And the rat poison is no longer being kept in the garage. Not that my father would actually use one of those to off Grandma, but my mother wasn't going to chance it.

I went into the kitchen and found my mother furiously chopping vegetables. I guess she wasn't kidding when she'd said she ran out of ironing. Chopping was my mother's second coping method. Large piles of onions, peppers, and tomatoes took up most of the counter. She had three pots bubbling on the stove, and it was well past dinner time. I had a feeling we would be eating marinara until spring.

"Have you heard anything yet?" I asked my mother.

She jumped and turned to glare at me.

"Sorry," I said."I thought you heard me come in."

"Your grandmother is still missing," my mother said.

"I find it hard to believe that no one saw her leave this morning," I said to my mother."You can't get away with _anything_ in the Burg. There's always someone who sees you and rats you out."

I knew this one firsthand. All during high school my mother would get phone calls informing her of my latest misdeed_.'Did you know that Stephanie climbed out of your bathroom window again?' _Or even worse, _'Stephanie was seen going into the Morelli's garage with little Joseph.' _That was the one that had started the long, complicated history of Morelli and me. The list of my crimes was endless. And thanks to dedicated Burg housewives, my mother knew about almost all of them.

"Your grandmother probably has dirt on all of the neighbors," my mother said."They wouldn't dare cross her."

Knowing Grandma Mazur, that was probably true.

There didn't seem to be anything to go with the ton of sauce, so I made myself a ham and cheese sandwich while my mother started cleaning up.A half-hour later, I was helping my mother put the last of the dishes away and in walked Grandma.

"I saw your car out front," Grandma said."Don't tell me I missed something good. Did you shoot someone? Burn down a building?"

"Not today," I said.

"Oh well, there's always tomorrow," Grandma said.

I thought she sounded a tad hopeful. Grandma Mazur loved disasters of any kind. And she loved them even more if I was personally involved in one, since she would then be the center of attention at the beauty parlor or Stiva's.

She looked around the room."Are you alone?" She asked me.

"Yep."

"No Ranger?"

"No Ranger," I said."He had to work."

"That's a shame," Grandma said."It's always nice when he visits. He's such a polite young man. And he'ssucha _hottie_. If I was twenty years younger, you'd have some competition for that one."

"If you were twenty years younger," my father said,"you'd still be thirty years too old."

My mother shot my father a look through the doorway, and he turned back to the television.

Surprisingly, my mother accepted Ranger without too much fuss. After a few weeks of veiled relationship/marriage questions, she eventually let the subject go. I think she could tell that I was finally happy with someone, and that I wasn't going to listen to her criticize our relationship in any way. She also didn't want to run the risk of chasing Ranger off since Morelli was no longer an option.

"Where have you been?" My mother asked Grandma.

My mother's eyes were narrowed and I think I might have seen some steam coming out of the top of her head. I was happy that for once that particular look, and tone, wasn't directed at me.

"Betty Szajak, Emma Gertz, and I decided we needed a girls night out."

"Umm ... you left in the morning," I said to Grandma.

"Yeah, we wanted to get an early start."

"Where did you go?" My mother asked, looking like she didn't really want to know the answer.

"We went to Atlantic City. Emma said she was feeling lucky."

"Was she?" I asked.

"Nope," Grandma said."She lost half of her Social Security check."

"Please tell me you didn't waste all your money gambling?" My mother begged.

"I didn't lose anything. I just went along to try to pick up a hot guy for the night," Grandma said."I didn't get no takers, though."

"Jesus Christ," my father said.

"Maybe that ended being up a good thing, 'cause I'm all done in," Grandma said, yawning."I'm going up to bed."

"Well," I said,"mystery solved. Grandma's safe. She still has her check. And no cops were involved in her return. This is one of her better disappearances." I said to my mother."I guess I can head home now."

"I fixed you a bag," my mother said."It's in the refrigerator."

Disaster or not, my mother was still a mother. And she was always concerned about my eating habits. She probably had a to-go bag ready before she even got off the phone with me.

I went to the fridge and grabbed the bag. I told my mother that I'd see her tomorrow and said goodbye to my dad on my way to the front door.

Ten minutes later, I was walking into my apartment. I tapped on the side of Rex's cage and said hello. There was no shifting in the pine shavings. He must have had a busy day running on his wheel and was now sleeping it off. I could understand the need to nap afterwards, but I still couldn't figure out why Rex chose to run on his wheel in the first place.

Ever since I started doing bond enforcement people have broken into my apartment. Good guys, bad guys, it didn't matter. _Everybody _broke into my apartment. So I've added lock-checking to my nighttime routine. I made sure my living room windows were untouched, and all three deadbolts and the security chain were engaged on my front door, before heading to my bedroom. I looked around my bedroom. No creepy guys hanging out on my fire escape. And my windows were still locked. No bad guys to deal with tonight. I said a silent thank you to whoever may be listening, and walked into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

I took a long, hot shower and put on my usual pajamas; a knit tank top and cotton boxers, and climbed into bed.

I came awake knowing that I wasn't alone. Someone was in the bed with me. I knew it wasn't hard to pick a deadbolt, but I knew of only one man who could release a security chain from the outside. And without making any noise while doing it. Which would explain why I wasn't as freaked out as I should have been about someone crawling into bed with me.

"Don't you ever sleep?" I asked Ranger.

He brushed my hair aside and kissed the nape of my neck before answering."It's pay-up time."

I turned and looked over his shoulder at the clock on the nightstand. It was a little after twelve.

I gave Ranger a disbelieving look."You've been working almost eighteen hours straight. Shouldn't you be tired?"

"I'm not _that_ tired," Ranger said against my lips.

His hand found the hem of my tank top and slid under it. His palm was resting against the small of my back, warming the skin underneath it.

"Did your grandmother come home?" Ranger asked.

"Yeah," I said. I was fighting to pay attention to the question, and not to Ranger's hand."She spent the day in Atlantic City with two of her friends. Her friends went there to gamble. Grandma went there to pick up men."

Ranger laughed softly."You come from a scary family, Babe."

I know it's shocking, but that's not the first time that I've heard that.

Ranger's hand was no longer sitting still. His fingertips were lightly brushing up and down the length of my spine causing little shivers throughout my body.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I seem to remember you mentioning something about wanting some quality time together," Ranger said.

"You know I was kidding about having plans," I said."And I didn't think you'd come all the way over here, in the middle of the night, to collect on them." I could suggest something to Ranger once and a while, and I could show my appreciation when Ranger did something that I really liked, but I'm still not a hundred percent comfortable talking about sex. And I was nowhere near the same league as Ranger when it came to flirting.

"You thought wrong," Ranger said, and kissed me. He deepened the kiss, and pulled me flat against him.

Ranger had kicked his boots off and left his gun on the nightstand, but he was still dressed in his black cargo pants and tight black T-shirt. I tugged his shirt free and slid my hands up the defined muscles of his chest. Ranger wrapped his arms around me and rolled onto his back so that I was sprawled on top of him. I kissed him lightly on the lips and pressed kisses along his jaw before skimming my lips down his neck. When I reached the collar of his T-shirt, I made an impatient noise and tugged at the shirt. Ranger laughed softly at the sound, obviously pleased with the effect he had on me. He sat up, which had me straddling him, and pulled the shirt over his head. I went momentarily breathless looking at the large expanse of flawless dark skin and rock-hard muscles. Ranger used the moment I was sitting up to remove my tank top. The air was cool on my bare skin, and when Ranger settled back down again I snuggled closer trying to absorb the heat coming off of him. Ranger's hands slid down my back catching the waistband of my cotton boxers, easing them down and off me. I could feel the material off his cargo pants against me.

"You have on too many clothes," I said against his neck. I admit that it was probably my fault that he was still dressed, since I was draped over him.

Ranger ran his fingers through my hair."I'm glad you finally admit that you want me naked."

"It took me awhile to come around."

"That's not good for my ego."

Something tells me Ranger never had to worry about his ego. Not that he had a big head, or anything, but he knew the effect he had on women. And he used it, shamelessly, to his advantage when it came to me.

"That's not what I meant," I said to him.

"I know, Babe." Ranger said."You were afraid."

"More like cautious."

"Cautious is no fun," Ranger said, rolling onto his side taking me with him. He slid out of bed and stripped off his cargo pants.

Yep, I thought to myself looking at a naked Ranger, cautious is definitely not as much fun.

Ranger came back to the bed, and gathered me to him again. He brushed the hair back from my face and kissed me. His mouth remained on mine, as his hand moved along the length of my body, cupping my breasts and brushing my nipples before moving on. When I gasped at the contact, Ranger deepened the kiss. His lips swept along my jawline, down my neck to my collarbone before giving my breasts his full attention again. He did something very clever with his fingers down there and when his mouth replaced his fingers, I think I might have lost consciousness for a moment. When it finally returned, I opened my eyes and looked up at him.

"Oh boy," I whispered, trying to suck air back into my lungs.

He lowered his head and kissed me lightly on the lips."Can't have you going back to being cautious," Ranger said.

Now that I knew what it was like to be with Ranger, I didn't think that was going to be a problem.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back. My hands slid along Ranger's shoulders, down the wall of his chest and I circled him with my fingers. I had three seconds of fun before Ranger pulled back. It seems I have a pretty big effect on him, too. He slid into me, and that was my last clear thought of the night.

Ranger was still in my bed the next morning. His arm was around my waist holding me close and I was feeling very comfy. Unfortunately, I had a feeling the comfy feeling wouldn't last much longer, because the arm that was holding me had a watch with a ringing alarm attached to it. Ranger stirred next to me, and shut off the alarm.

"I thought one of the perks of owning your own company was that you could set your own hours."

"I do set my own hours," Ranger said.

My bedroom was still dark. There was no sign of the sun. As a matter of fact, there were no signs of _life._ It was too early for even the birds to be awake.

"And you choose to get up at this hour?" I asked."On purpose?"

"It's how I like to do things," Ranger said."Besides, if my work is done early I can have more time in the evening for more enjoyable activities."

I got a rush just at the thought of those activities.

Ranger lowered his head to mine and kissed me. When he finally broke from the kiss, I thought it was a good thing I wasn't wearing any clothes, because they probably would have melted right off. Ranger really knew how to kiss.

"I need to head back to my apartment to change clothes," Ranger said.

"See, that's what happens when you make decisions in the middle of the night," I said to Ranger."If you gave it some more thought before coming over here, you would have remembered to bring a change of clothes."

"Babe, I had plenty of thoughts before I came over here," Ranger said."But they weren't about _my_ clothes."

Jeez. He wasn't even touching me and I could feel my whole body flush.

Ranger kissed my forehead and got out of bed. I watched as he pulled on his clothes and grabbed his gun off the nightstand. I put on my robe that was lying next to the bed, and followed Ranger out of my bedroom to the front door. He slid the gun into the waistband of his cargo pants at the small of his back, and put on his jacket, before turning back to me.

"My schedule is full for the day but I should be done by seven. Would you like to have dinner out or at have it at Rangeman?"

"Rangeman," I said. Few people could rival Ella's cooking even if it what she cooked was healthy."I'll meet you there."

Ranger walked towards me, backing me up against the counter. He leaned into me, placing his hands flat on the counter top on either side of my hips, caging me in. His head lowered and when his tongue curled around mine, I grasped the front of his T-shirt trying, unsuccessfully, to fight the wave of desire that rushed through me.

Ranger lifted his head and looked down at me."See you at seven," Ranger said, the corners of his mouth turned up in an almost smile.

"You really need to stop doing that," I said to him. After all of the times we've been together, I still had a hard time controlling my hormones around Ranger.

Ranger smiled at me, and brushed a soft kiss across my lips."We'll finish this conversation tonight," Ranger said. Then he was out the door and gone.

Now that I wasn't pressed up against Ranger anymore, my brain was starting to function. And I had a choice to make. Go back to bed, or take a shower and start my day. I looked out my living room window. The sun was nowhere to be seen. Going back to bed it is.

I woke up three hours later. The sun had finally made an appearance. I climbed out of bed for a second time and headed for the bathroom. I took a shower, and took my time getting ready. Thirty minutes later, I was standing in my kitchen thinking about what I was going to do for the day when my phone rang. It was Lula.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"I got a big date this week and I need help pickin' out the right shoes to wear with the dress I got for it."

"Since when do you care about my fashion opinion?"

Lula was a 'ho before coming to work for Vinnie. And in Lula's mind, changing professions didn't necessarily mean you had to change your wardrobe. Everything she owned, and wore on a regular basis, was either spandex, animal print, or both. And also were, at least, two-sizes-too-small. Oddly enough, the look worked on Lula.

"Okay," Lula said. "My car's in the shop and I need a ride to the mall."

"Are you at your apartment?"

"Yeah," Lula said.

"I'll be right over," I told Lula. I didn't have anything better to do. And I could probably use the exercise. Shopping is the only form of exercise I can get excited about. My idea of cardio is running through a shopping mall in four-inch heels during a one-day-only sale.

Lula was waiting for me outside when I drove up.

"This here's gonna be fun," Lula said, getting into the passenger seat."And since you were nice enough to give me a ride, I'm paying for lunch."

I turned off Route One and pulled into the Quaker Bridge parking lot. I chose a space near the Macy's entrance so we could hit the shoe department first thing.

After an hour of looking, Lula changed her mind and decided that food was more important than shoes. We made the short walk to the food court in record time and settled on pizza, and diet Cokes, before hitting the ice cream place for dessert.

We finished the last of our ice cream and were walking out of the food court area, on our way back to Macy's, when we heard a loud crack. Lula and I looked at each other. We knew that sound.

"Gunshot," we said in unison.

The mall suddenly turned into an episode of Wild Kingdom. There was a lot of screaming and people were running in all directions. We couldn't tell exactly where the shot came from.

"Whose after you now?" Lula asked me.

"Nobody's after me," I said to her."Not every bad thing that happens involves me."

"Uh-huh," Lula said, not sounding convinced."If you say so."

The noise level was still high and I could barely hear the phone ringing in my bag. I flipped my phone open."Yeah?" I asked, straining to hear.

"Tell me the electronics in your bag are wrong and you're not at the mall."

It was Ranger.

"Your gizmo is right," I said."I'm at the mall with Lula."

"We heard a call go out on the police scanner saying there's been a shooting."

"Lula and I heard the shot, but we don't know where it came from."

"The police are saying a guy violated his restraining order and is after his girlfriend who works as a cashier at the candle place."

"We just left the food court," I said, trying hard not to panic."That's not that far from us." Not to mention that it was halfway between where we were standing, and where we were headed.

Just as I finished speaking, the shooter rounded the escalator and I got a clear view of his face."Holy Crap!" I said.

"What?" Ranger asked.

"I know this guy," I said."I brought him in twice for failing to appear. His name is Randy Harlo."

"That's not good, Babe."

Tell me about it.

"Do you think he'd recognize you?"

"I don't know," I said."He was always drunk by the time I caught up with him."

"I'm on my way," Ranger said."Don't attract any attention to yourself."

No problem there.

I put my phone back in my bag and told Lula about the shooter and the restraining order.

"See," Lula said to me, shaking her head in disbelief."I knew it! I don't know how you do it, but you always get yourself into trouble. You're like a magnet for it."

"This isn't about me," I told Lula."I'm just in the wrong place at the wrong time." _Again_.

"That's what you always say. And what idiot would shoot someone in a mall?" Lula asked."That's just plain stupid. They got cameras everywhere. I hope he knows he's gonna be spending lots of time in jail. You can't say you're innocent when your face is caught on video pulling the trigger."

I didn't know why anyone would want to shoot another person_ period_. Camera or not. I've had to do it myself a few times, and it wasn't my idea of fun.

I turned my body, hoping Harlo wouldn't notice me, but I was too late. He was looking directly at me. And I saw the exact moment he figured out who I was.

"Uh-oh," Lula said, watching him."That ain't a friendly look. I guess he remembers you. And not in a good way."

I had a stun-gun, and pepper spray, in my shoulder bag. Of course, they wouldn't be of any help to me unless Harlo got close enough to us to use them. Lula always had a weapon on her. Depending on her mood, or her outfit, it could be anything from a Glock to a sawed-off shotgun. The red snakeskin bag she was carrying today was big enough to house a scoolbus. I didn't think she'd be able to find an elephant in there, never mind a gun. And definitely not in time to be of any use. Lula must have been thinking the same thing, because she had a grip on my arm that was threatening my blood flow. And she was right about the look I was getting. If looks could kill, Randy Harlo wouldn't need the gun he was holding.

He was walking towards us, the gun in his hand, his hand at his side. Okay, he wasn't pointing the gun at us that's a good sign, right?

He stopped about ten feet away."I know who you are," Randy said."You're that bounty hunter bitch that started all this. You're the reason Joann left me and got that restraining order."

"I think you beating the crap out of her had more to do with her leaving."

Probably it wasn't smart to talk back to a guy holding a gun, but I very rarely did things that were considered smart by other people's standards.

"Everything thing was fine until you stuck your nose in," he said.

Yeah, right. That's why he was arrested a second time for domestic abuse.

"Joann had decided to leave you before I even spoke to her," I told him. I felt Lula grip my arm harder. My guess was that she wanted me to shut the heck up.

"My day has just improved," Harlo said."I need a way out of here without getting killed, and I think I've just found the perfect hostage."

I wanted to believe that he wasn't talking about me but let's face it, with my luck, it couldn't possibly be anyone else.

"And when I get out of here, I'm gonna teach you a lesson about meddling in other people's lives. I'm gonna shoot you till you're dead."

See, that's what I mean. I was at the mall shopping for shoes, minding my own business, and now I'm a potential hostage. Could this possibly happen to anybody else?

We were standing near the food court, which was close to a whole slew of stores and mall exits, but not close enough to make a run for it without getting shot in the back. We were trapped. There was a small group of people behind Lula and I who must have come to the same conclusion, because they weren't moving, either.

"I don't think you need a hostage," I told him."If you hurry, you might be able to get out of here before the cops show up."

And like a scene straight out of a movie, we heard the police sirens.

Harlo looked like a startled deer. I guess he hadn't really thought this through. Which was very bad for us, because now he was going to get desperate. And desperate people were the most dangerous.

Harlo pointed his gun at me."Get over here," he said.

"Are you freakin' nuts?" I said, my voice raising an octave."I'm not going anywhere near you."

He moved the gun a couple of inches so it was now pointed at Lula."If you don't get the fuck over here now, I'm gonna shoot your fat friend."

"Hey! Who you calling fat?" Lula said.

"You," Harlo said to Lula, his gun now aimed at her head."Now get over here."

"Don't listen to him, Steph. He's gonna kill you."

"How about I make this easier for you," Harlo said."If you don't get your fucking ass over here_ now, _I'm going to shoot your friend and then I'm gonna shoot the kid."

I heard a woman's startled cry behind us. I looked over my shoulder. The woman looked to be around my age and was holding a little boy who was maybe three-years-old. Shit. I had no choice. I couldn't let him hurt a child.

"You only need one hostage to get out of here," I told him."You can let everyone else go."

"I got no problem with that. Only two people I got issues with. One, I already took care of. And you."

We knew Harlo had fired a single shot, but I didn't know whether or not his girlfriend was hit. After hearing him say that, it didn't look good for his girlfriend or me for that matter.

He waved his gun in the direction of the small crowd."Get out!" He yelled at them. He didn't have to say it twice. In a matter of seconds it was just Harlo, Lula,and I.

"I'm not leaving you with this psycho," Lula whispered to me.

I pried Lula's fingers off my arm."It's okay, just go," I said."I'll be fine." Not that I believed it. Randy had no intention of letting me go after he got away from here. The best that I could hope for was that if I did die, God might overlook my less than stellar past, and give me points for trying to prevent innocent people from being hurt.

Lula still hadn't moved away from me, and I could tell Harlo was nearing the end of his patience."Go," I said again, giving her a little push.

"Maybe I'll take my chances here," Lula said to me."I don't wanna have to tell Ranger that I left you alone with this nutcase. And Morelli will probably be out there, too."

I could see her point. No one wanted to be close to Ranger when he was in a mood. And Morelli upset wasn't pretty, either.

"You can let them know that I'm okay." At least I would be until Harlo and I got out of the building.

"Time's up," Harlo said to Lula."Get outta here _now_, or you'll be be sporting an extra hole in your head. I don't need two hostages."

I gave Lula another shove away from me."I don't like this," she said, then she was gone. Just me and Harlo now. Goody.

He wrapped his arm around my neck and put the gun to my temple."Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna walk out of the building nice and slow. Then we're gonna get in my car and get the hell out of here. And when I'm far enough away from here, I can focus on getting rid of you."

Great. Not only do I have a gun to my head, I have to take a road trip with a guy who has every intention of killing me. I don't know what I did in my life to deserve this, but it must have been really bad.

My phone kept ringing while we were moving through the mall. When this happens in movies there's usually a negotiator on the other end of the line trying to reason with the captor, making plenty of promises that might get the hostage out safely. A lesser charge, shorter jail time, cigarettes to trade with the other inmates. That wasn't what happened here. I was told not to touch the phone. Harlo wanted out of the building. And he wanted to kill me. He had no plans of making a deal with the police no matter what was promised to him.

We made our way through a side entrance and Harlo had me in a death grip when we finally stepped outside. Usually, the walk from the food court to anywhere else, took about ten minutes. Today, it felt like it took an hour. I blinked, trying to get my eyes to adjust to daylight after being in the dimly lit mall. The sun was out. Birds were singing. And the sky was as blue as it could possibly get in Jersey. I didn't want to die on a sunny day, I thought to myself. Okay, so I didn't really want to die on a rainy day, either, but if I had to choose the gloom of a rainy day would be more fitting. A sunny day felt like a waste.

"My car is the green Honda in the handicapped space," Harlo said to me."You're going to walk over there with me and get into the car without any trouble. I need you to get me out of here, so I can't kill you if you give me a hard time but I can, and will, shoot you till you cooperate. It just won't be in the head."

So, not only was he psycho, he'd also stolen a handicapped parking space. How freakin' rude is that? Of course, now that I think about it, maybe he parked in the right spot. Since I would consider being _crazy_ a handicap. And now on top of that, he's threatening to put a bunch of holes in me _before _he kills me. This day just keeps getting better.

I looked around as we headed to Harlo's car. There were police everywhere. And I could see two ambulances and a fire truck off to the side. Not a good sign. Officer's were standing all around the area in little clusters. Behind the police were people who were lucky enough to get out, and probably a few curious onlookers who stopped to see what was going on. A little ways off, there was a camera crew from a local TV station. Great. Now my mother and grandmother will be seeing this, too.

I cautiously turned my head slightly and saw Ranger. He was standing with Tank and Hal. All three were dressed in SWAT gear with full utility belts. I was thinking that Harlo should be thankful that the police were here, and he wasn't going to be left at the hands of Ranger and his men. I was fairly certain he would prefer jail time over whatever Ranger would have in store for him. And I had a feeling Ranger was wishing that the police would go away and let him handle this.

Most of the time I wasn't sure where I stood with Ranger's men. I didn't know if they actually liked me, or thought I was a huge pain in the ass and only put up with me because Ranger tells them to. But today, judging by the stony look in their eyes and tight set to their mouths, Tank and Hal were not pleased that someone had a gun pointed at me. Lula was next to them looking worried. She kept shifting her weight from one foot to the other, not sure what to do.

I couldn't look at Ranger until I had myself under control. Sometimes it seemed like he could look you in the eye and know exactly what was going on inside your head. I didn't want him to know how freaked out I was, so I avoided looking directly at him and focused on the chaos around me.

I saw Morelli with a couple other officers. My pals Eddie Gazarra and Carl Costanza among them. They all had their cop faces on, their expressions not giving any emotions away. And while I knew that they were cops and had to respond to any call that went out, I also knew that they would have come here today, no matter what, because I was involved. This was starting to feel like an episode of 'This Is Your Life, Stephanie Plum.' I felt my eyes fill up. And for one horrible moment I thought I was going to start crying in front of everyone. I could handle being held at gunpoint without being emotional, but knowing all these people were here because they cared about me, in one capacity or another, was enough to start the waterworks. The terror bubbling inside me subsided for a minute. If it was at all possible to get me out of this unharmed, these people would do it.

I blinked back the tears before turning my head and locking eyes with Ranger. His face was perfectly composed. It was only because I spent so much time with him that I could tell what he was thinking. Ranger didn't like not being in control. He also didn't like when someone threatened the people that he considered family. And seeing as how only a few hours ago we were in my bed together, the look in his eyes was chilling.

An officer I didn't recognize shouted over the noise of the sirens at Harlo."Put the gun down," he said."You don't have to do this. Just let her go."

"Like hell I don't have to do this!" Harlo said."You come near me and I'll blow her fucking head off!"

I was still looking at Ranger. His face didn't change except for a slight bunching of a muscle in his jaw. I sent him a weak smile hoping to reassure him. At least I was aiming for a smile, but it probably came out more like a grimace.

As we were stepping off the curb that led to the parking lot, I somehow tripped. I wish I could say that I had planned it, but it was more that my body wasn't entirely under my own control. Harlo had to quickly decide between letting go of me or falling down himself. He loosened his hold for a split second and a shot rang out. Harlo let go of me completely and grabbed his shoulder where an officer's bullet had struck. He brought his arm up making one last attempt at a get away. His shot went wild and he was tackled by police. The gun flew out of his hand, landing three feet away from us. I wasted no time getting away from him. I ran as fast as I could straight to where Ranger was standing. When I reached him, I slid my arms inside his jacket and pressed my face against his chest. I was trembling from both adrenaline and fear. Ranger tucked me into his open jacket, his arms wrapped tight around me, holding me to him. Okay, maybe his arms were a little _too _tightaround me, but I didn't care. The heat from his body was slowly seeping into mine, helping to still the tremors.

Ranger pressed his face to the side of my head, shielding me as best he could from the swarm of people surrounding us."Are you all right?" He asked me quietly.

"Yep," I said, against his T-shirt."Never better." I could feel him smile at my answer.

"Liar."

"I'm okay," I said, lifting my head up to look up at him, sounding a little more sure of it now. I was safe. I didn't have any bullet holes in me. And my heart was only skipping every other beat.

"We're glad that you're okay," Hal said to me, and I saw Tank nod his head in agreement. "You scared the crap out of us. Excuse the language."

"I hear that a lot," I said to him. I wasn't sure if I was talking about the language or the part about scaring them, but I guess it didn't matter. I was covered either way.

"I could have taken him," Lula said, to no one in particular.

There was suddenly a lot of commotion behind us. I looked over my shoulder to see what was going on. The police were putting Harlo inside a cruiser and a reporter and camera guy were attempting to get close enough to get a good shot, so more officers were being called in to help hold them back.

I noticed Eddie Gazarra waving his arm at me, trying to get my attention."I'll be right back," I said to Ranger, and eased away from him.

"I'm going with you," Lula said."What if that idiot gets away from the police and comes after you?"

"He's in cuffs, sitting in a locked patrol car with police guarding him." I said to her."He's not going to get loose."

"He could try," Lula said."And this time I'm gonna be ready."

I blew out a sigh but I didn't argue. Sometimes it was just easier to give in when it came to Lula.

Morelli was still standing with Eddie and Carl. He looked at me for a long moment without saying anything."Are you okay?" He finally asked.

That seemed to be the question of the day."I think so."

"How come nobody's asking me if I'm okay?" Lula asked, hands on hips, starting to look pissed."He held a gun on me, too."

"Yeah," Costanza said,"but you were standing outside, out of danger, by the time we got here."

"Hunh," Lula said."Steph made me leave. Otherwise, I would have popped a cap up his ass."

Hard to pop a cap up someone's ass when your hands are shaking and you can't find your gun.

"What the hell happened?" Gazarra asked me."We got the call about a hostage situation, but we didn't know it was you until we got here."

I filled them in on the gunshot we heard while in the food court, and my past experiences with Harlo. I also told them that Harlo blamed me for the restraining order, and that he was planning on killing me after he got away.

"Unbelievable," Costanza said.

"How do these things happen to you?" Gazarra asked.

I hoped he was asking the universe, or God, because I sure as heck didn't have an answer.

Morelli wasn't saying anything. Which is understandable considering this was the type of thing that was instrumental in our break-up. Or break-ups. We've broken up_ a lot._ And I'm sure seeing me pressed up against Ranger didn't help the situation or his mood.

"You're going to have to come down to the station to make a formal report."

"I figured as much," I said to Gazarra."Do I have to do it now?"

"No," he said."Tomorrow will be okay. There were a lot of witnesses that saw what happened. We'll probably be busy for the rest of day with them."

Good deal. I wasn't up to reliving the whole ordeal yet.

"I'm not going to no police station," Lula said."I'm allergic. I get irritable bowel if I go anywhere near a police station. If someone wants anything from me, they'll have to meet me somewhere else. Someplace that sells burgers. And fries. I'm gonna need fries if I have to talk about this."

"What about his girlfriend?" I asked. I haven't heard anyone mention her. Of course, my mind hadn't been on other people's conversations. I was busy trying not to get dead.

"She was shot in the head," Morelli said, not looking at me, his expression still grim,"but the bullet just grazed the side of it. She has a concussion and she'll need stitches. Other than that, she should be fine."

"Lucky for her, the impact of the bullet knocked her out cold," Gazarra said."If she was moving at all Harlo would have finished her off."

Not a good thought to dwell on. Things could have been a lot worse for the both of us.

I assured everyone that I really was okay, and Lula and I walked back to where Ranger, Tank, and Hal were waiting.

"I'm taking you back to Rangeman with me," Ranger said."Probably you won't agree to being locked up in a safe house, so I'm going to settle for having you safely tucked away in my building. Tank and Hal can take Lula home."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I whispered to Ranger. Tank and Lula were engaged for about a minute a while ago. The break-up wasn't nasty, but I wasn't sure if being stuck together in a small space was good for either of them.

"They'll be fine," Ranger said.

"What about my car?" I asked.

"I'll have one of my men pick it up and bring it to Rangeman for you."

Tank and Hal loaded Lula into a black Rangman SUV and motored off to Lula's place. At least, Hal and Tank _thought_ that's where they were going, but if I knew Lula she was going to make them stop at a drive-thru on the way to get something for her nerves. Lula was a stress eater. Actually, Lula was an_ everything _eater. If she was happy, sad, pissed-off, or just plain bored, she ate. And she ate a _lot_. Not that I could judge. But I do try to keep my binging to a minimum. I didn't have money to spare for a larger wardrobe.

Ranger wrapped an arm around me and moved me toward his Turbo. He settled me in the passenger seat before angling behind the wheel. He rolled the engine over and looked over at me.

"There were a couple of moments back there where I thought I was going to lose you," Ranger said."That was the longest thirty minutes of my life."

"This was nothing," I said to him, trying to lighten the mood."Remember when Con locked me up in Spiro's house? Or the time Edward Scrog kidnapped me, and no one knew where I was?"

His eyes narrowed. Ranger didn't want his mood lightened."You're not taking this seriously."

"I'm trying not to take it at all," I told him."I'm blocking it out until tomorrow when I have to do a play-by-play for the police."

"You're having too many close calls, Babe," Ranger said.

"But this one really wasn't my fault." I know I sounded whiny but I figured, at the very least, I was entitled to a little whining today.

"If things had turned out differently you would be dead right now," Ranger said, pulling out of the lot."It wouldn't matter whose fault it was. You're not something that I can replace. You're going to have to be more careful. And you're going to have to make staying safe a priority."

"Lula's should be the one getting lectured," I mumbled."She's the one who wanted to go to the mall in the first place."

"I heard that," Ranger said.

I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes."Good," I said.

We were almost at Rangeman when my phone rang."Are you okay?" My mother asked me.

"Yeah."

"Marta Nazzolli called and said you we're being held hostage by some lunatic."

I thought lunatic was a good word to describe Randy Harlo."Everything's fine," I told my mother."The guy is in police custody. And I'm going home with Ranger."

"Why do these things always happen to my daughter?" She asked."Irene Slavinski's daughter never gets held at gun point at shopping malls. Only my daughter. Why is it always my daughter? What did I do wrong? First, your grandmother. And now this. What were you doing?"

"_I_ wasn't doing anything," I told my mother, taking turns glaring through the phone at her, and over at Ranger. They've obviously decided that this was my fault."I was shopping with Lula and somehow got caught in the middle of it."

"What do you mean _you somehow got caught in the middle_?" My mother asked."This never happens to anyone but you."

"It's a gift," I said to her. I could almost see her making the sign of the cross.

You would think I'd be getting special treatment or something. I mean, I could have died today. That should be worth something, right? But instead I'm being blamed for being there in the first place. I'm telling you, I can't catch a break. The only way I was able to cut my mother off mid-rant, and get off the phone, was by promising her that I would be over as soon as I could. I dumped the phone in my bag and rested my head against the seat again, closing my eyes.

We pulled up to the Rangeman gate, Ranger keyed it open and parked in one of his private spaces near the elevator. I heaved myself out of the Turbo and started walking to the elevator. At least, I was _trying_ to walk to the elevator. My legs were still a little shaky and I stumbled. Ranger caught me around the waist before I hit the ground.

"Do you want me to carry you?" Ranger asked.

I blew out a sigh. Talk about humiliating. I almost lost it in front of a bunch of strangers. Now I'm tripping over my own feet. Not exactly the image I was going for. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was in control. That I could handle these kinds of situations. After all, I've had more than enough practice. There was no way I was going to let Ranger carry me up to his apartment like some helpless, frightened, female. I've been called many things in my life. _Helpless_ was not one of them. I'm as far from helpless as a person can get. And while I'll admit to being frightened back there, I didn't want anyone else to know it. I didn't need to be carried, or coddled. And definitely not when Ranger's whole control room would be watching.

"No," I said."I was just a little wobbly there for a minute. I'll be fine."

Ranger kept his arm firmly around me as we got into the elevator. He hadn't bothered removing his utility belt before leaving the lot, and I could feel the hardness of his gun against me. I took a deep breath and waved at the minicam that was in the corner of the elevator. I knew every set of eyes in the control room would be on me.

Ranger noticed the wave."I'm not the only one here who likes you," Ranger said."When the call went out about the shooting, and we confirmed that you were at Quaker Bridge, I almost lost half my work force."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that the men I hire to man the control room are supposed to be able to handle a crisis," Ranger said to me."But when they knew you were in danger, they lost their focus. The entire fifth floor wanted to stop what they were doing and come with us. Not good when a large percentage of your business consists of watching security monitors. Hal was the worst. He seems to have a thing for you."

I think being the only woman in an all male organization brings out the protective instincts in the men. The men of Rangeman feel obligated to watch over me. Ella _does_ work here, so technically I'm not the only female in the building, but she's not monitored the way I am. Probably because she's older than me, happily married, and she isn't involved with the boss. Or maybe the men are just afraid Ranger will shoot them if they let anything bad happen to me. Either way, they don't like it when I'm in trouble. Unfortunately for them, I'm in trouble a lot.

"Hal's sweet," I told Ranger.

"I didn't hire Hal to be sweet," Ranger said.

"Hey," I said to Ranger,"don't get mad at me. I've never said, or done, anything inappropriate around your men. I can't help it if I'm likable."

"I think you could help it if you wanted to, Babe," Ranger said."And you don'thaveto do anything for men to be interested in you. For the sake of my clients, I did call the control room while you were talking to Costanza and Gazarra to let everyone know you were safe."

I noticed he didn't include Morelli in the group I was talking to.

The doors opened to the seventh floor. Ranger keyed his door open for me, and followed me into the foyer. He shrugged out of his jacket, peeled mine off of me, and put them away in the hall closet.

"Would you like a glass of wine? Or something to eat?" Ranger asked, taking his gun belt off and setting it on the sideboard."I can call Ella and she'll make you whatever you want. Or you can look around the kitchen for something."

"No," I said."I think I just want to go to bed and try to forget this day happened." I looked over at him."Are you coming with me? Or do you have to go back to work?"

"Babe," Ranger said to me,"if I get into a bed with you right now, you won't be sleeping."

Heat rushed into my chest, and a few other places."And?" I said. What better way to forget the feel of Harlo's gun against my head, than to feel Ranger against the rest of me.

Ranger wrapped a hand around the nape of my neck, pulling me to him, and kissed me. When my mouth opened to Ranger's, Harlo was the last thing on my mind. With just his hand on my neck, and his mouth on mine, Ranger walked me backwards toward his bedroom. He stopped when the back of my knees hit the bed. He broke from the kiss just long enough to peel my shirt off of me, and remove his. Then I was back in his arms being lowered onto the bed. He kissed me again as his hands slid down my body removing my bra before unbuttoning my jeans and pulling them off. His hands were everywhere. My breasts, hips, and my belly all received Ranger's personal attention. When his fingers finally settled on one particularly sensitive spot_, _I might have blacked out because when I opened my eyes Ranger was stripping off the last of his clothes, and I didn't remember him leaving the bed. He came back to bed, gathered me close, and kissed his way up my neck. He kissed my chin, my temple, the tip of my nose before he focused on my mouth again. His kiss had started off gentle, but quickly turned demanding. I wrapped my arms around him, pressing closer, while my legs moved restlessly. Ranger broke from the kiss and looked down at me. He was smiling. Not the usual half-smile, either. But the full-on Ranger smile.

"What?" I asked. Not sure that I wanted to know what was behind that smile.

"Are you in a hurry, Babe?" Ranger asked."Because I've got all day."

Uh-oh. Not that hours spent in bed with Ranger was a bad thing. It's just that I had a hard time controlling myself for three minutes around Ranger. Never mind_ hours_. His self-control was way better than mine. I narrowed my eyes at him.

Ranger laughed softly. He bent his head back to mine. He took his time, kissing me over and over again. Hard to be annoyed with someone when they had their tongue in your mouth. Ranger dipped his head, working his way down my body again. His lips skimmed the length of my belly and moved lower still. I could feel his breath against me. Then his mouth. It was a good thing Ranger's apartment was an entire floor with no neighbors around to hear because not only did I lose control of my body, I lost control of my voice. And the volume of it. I felt Ranger slide into me, and that's the last thing I remember.

We laid there quietly, just holding each other. My head was pillowed on Ranger's shoulder, our legs tangled. My face was pressed into his neck inhaling the sexy scent of Ranger mixed with Bulgari. This had been a very strange day. It had started off good, then I almost died, and now I'm back in bed with Ranger where I had started out this morning. There was still light coming into Ranger's bedroom windows, so I knew it wasn't that late in the day. I wanted to know what time it was, but lifting my head seemed like a lot of work. I really should invest in a new watch. That way I wouldn't have to lift my head. All I would need to do is open one eye. I thought, at the very least, I could manage that. My body felt relaxed and boneless. Between the adrenaline from the hostage thing, and Ranger, I never wanted to move again. I did finally muster enough energy to lift my head, and look at the bedside clock. It was only four o' clock in the afternoon. I blew out a sigh.

Ranger brushed a stray curl back from my face, and hugged me to him."Don't like the sound of that sigh, Babe."

"Just thinking about how strange today has been."

"Considering how your days usually go," Ranger said,"you should be used to strange by now."

"Very funny," I said to him.

"All kidding aside," Ranger said,"you've been in danger many times since you started working for Vinnie, but today was one of the worst. Seeing a gun pressed to your head doesn't make me happy. Maybe you should start thinking about a less risky job; like working full time for Rangeman."

"Wow," I said."You're the last person I'd expect to tell me to quit bond enforcement. You're starting to sound like my mother."

"You've given your mother plenty of reasons to worry."

"I've noticed that you seem to have two constants with me," I said to Ranger."Lecturing me. And trying to get me naked. And sometimes it's hard to tell which one you enjoy more."

"Babe," Ranger said,"if you can't tell which one I enjoy more, I must be doing something wrong."

I can say with absolute certainty that Ranger wasn't doing _anything_ wrong.

"And if you don't stop doing that," Ranger said,"we won't be leaving this bed at all today."

I looked down at my hand. Sometime during our conversation, I had started absently stroking my fingers across Ranger's chest.

"Sorry," I said, taking my hand away.

Ranger caught my hand and brought it to his mouth, brushing my knuckles with his lips."Nothing to be sorry about, Babe, but if you're going to want to get out of this bed anytime soon, you're going to have to stop touching me."

"I thought you liked me touching you," I said to him."But I'll try to restrain myself in the future."

"Steph, the last thing I want you to do is restrain yourself."

"Are you sure?" I asked, kissing the line of his jaw.

"Yeah," Ranger said."I'm sure."

I kissed him lightly on the mouth before sliding my body over his. I felt his body respond, and smiled against his neck. Two could play at this game. I kissed his neck, then slid lower, pressing kisses along his chest to his washboard stomach. I wrapped my hand around him, lowered my head and flicked him with my tongue. Ranger went very still as I set out to make him as crazy as he made me. Suddenly, I was flat on my back and Ranger was inside me. Needless to say, we didn't leave the bed until much later.

I had insisted we get up before Ella brought supper. I didn't want to give Ella the impression that Ranger and I had spent the day in bed together, even if that's exactly what we did. Ranger was dressed in his usual cargo pants and T-shirt, but I had decided putting on clothes took too much effort, so I was wearing Ranger's robe again. Probably my wearing Ranger's robe wasn't going to help in convincing Ella that we were doing other things up here besides making love.

Ranger opened the door to Ella, and took the tray she was holding. As soon as Ella's hands were free she rushed in and hugged me. She asked me if I was all right, hugged me again, then let herself out closing the door quietly behind her. Ranger carried the tray into the kitchen and I set the plates out onto the breakfast bar. Ella had made grilled chicken breast, roasted vegetables, and seasoned rice for two. It was very pretty. Very healthy. No dessert. Not that I was surprised by this. Ranger never ate dessert. But after the day I've had, I _really_ needed dessert. I told myself that this was better for me, but I wasn't convinced.

After we put the leftover food in the fridge, we migrated to the den to watch television. We were sitting on the couch watching news coverage of the shooting. I was curled up next to Ranger, my head resting against his chest. His arm was around me, holding me close.

"Well," I said,"at least my hair looked good on TV."

"Out of everything, _that's_ what you notice?"

"Uh-huh," I said. What can I say, I'm from Jersey. And women from Jersey pay attention to the important things in life; like how their hair looked on national television.

The day was catching up to me. By the time the footage of Harlo being taken in to custody came on the screen, my eyes wouldn't stay open any longer. I must have fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes I was in Ranger's arms and he was carrying me to the bedroom. He set me down next to the bed, took off the robe I was wearing, and tucked me in under the blanket. He shed his clothes before climbing in next to me.

He gathered me close, and pressed a light kiss against my temple."Go back to sleep," he whispered. I thought that sounded like a good idea. I cuddled closer to Ranger, and closed my eyes.

The next thing I knew it was morning and I couldn't move. I was surrounded by Ranger. We were lying spoon fashion. Ranger's arm was thrown over my chest and his leg covered mine. I lifted my head a little and surveyed the bed. The blanket was no longer on me, having been kicked off sometime during the night, and was now laying in a tangled mess on the floor. Luckily, I still had the sheet covering me. Well, most of me anyway. I don't remember having any nightmares last night. I also didn't remember anything amazing happening after we had gone back to bed, so I can only assume that I, alone, was responsible for the state of the bed. That would also explain why Ranger had me in a full-body hold. To keep me from landing on the floor next to the blanket.

I tried rolling over, but only my head was able to move freely."Hey!" I said, looking over my shoulder at Ranger.

"Hmm," Ranger said, eyes still closed.

"I can't move," I said."You have me in a death grip."

Ranger opened his eyes and smiled at me."And you have a problem with that?" He asked, nuzzling my neck.

"Yes."

Ranger let go of me and I flopped over onto my back."Did I keep you awake all night?"

"Not all of the night," Ranger said.

"Sorry."

"Babe," Ranger said."You were held at gunpoint. You're allowed to have nightmares about it."

"I don't remember having any," I told him.

"You slept for an hour or so without moving. Then you started beating up the blankets."

I smiled."They deserved it."

Ranger laughed softly."Of course they did, Babe."

"What are you still doing here?" I asked Ranger."You're usually downstairs working by now."

"I wanted to know where you were going today before I leave," Ranger said.

"Why?"

"Why do you think?"

"Yesterday was a fluke," I said. Okay, so that was kind of a fib because these sorts of things happen to me all the time. But I didn't want Ranger to worry. When Ranger's worried, he assigns one of the hulking masses of Rangeman muscle to follow me around. And I can say from past experience that this wasn't at all desirable. Ranger kindly refers to his men as '_security specialists'_. I call themwhat they are;_ scary_. And they can also be extremely annoying, because once Ranger gave them their orders, nothing short of death or dismemberment would get his men to stop tailing me. And whoever Ranger hired would have to be the one to get dead, or dismembered, seeing as how everyone at Rangeman would happily choose death over having to tell Ranger that something had happen to me on their watch.

"I have to go to my parents' house so my mother can fuss over me. And politely listen while she gives me a running list of everybody she knows that don't have daughters who get held hostage," I said."And Grandma Mazur is going to want details. After that, I'll have to go to the police station and give a report." Going to the police station today was at the very bottom of my want-to-do-list, especially since Morelli will likely be somewhere in the vicinity."And I should probably stop in at the office and check on Lula."

"I don't suppose you'd agree to stay here at Rangeman today?" Ranger asked.

"Nothing bad is going to happen to me," I told Ranger."Harlo is in jail. And, as far as I know, no one else is after me."

"Yes," Ranger said,"but it's still early."

This was true. I had no comeback, so I did what any self-respecting person would do, I narrowed my eyes and gave him a ten second death glare.

Ranger brushed the hair back from my face, and grinned down at me."You're cute when you scrunch your face up like that," Ranger said."In fact, that scowl could even be considered sexy, since I know it's the only thing you're wearing."

"I've got a sheet," I said, taking a firmer grip on it. It's a good thing the sheet didn't get kicked off like the blanket, I thought. I would have had a real hard time having this conversation naked. As it was, I could feel my body heating up under Ranger's suddenly hot gaze.

He brushed his fingertips along the edge of the material, and lowered his head to mine."You could lose the sheet," he said, against my lips.

"Don't you have to get ready for work?"

"Yeah."

"You're going to be late," I said.

"Babe, I'm already late," Ranger said."I should make the most of it."

"What about Ella?"

"I figured you'd want to sleep in this morning," Ranger said."I called Ella last night after you fell asleep and told her I'd let her know when we'd be ready for breakfast."

"Boy, you think of everything, don't you?"

"Yes," Ranger said."Would you like to know what I'm thinking _now_?"

I had a pretty good idea.

Ranger's lips were now nearing the edge of the sheet."Well," I said,"you _are _already late ..."

That was all Ranger needed. In seconds Ranger's mouth was on mine, his tongue deep in my mouth, his hands skimming my body. I lost the sheet and possibly my mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Ranger was first in the shower since he had to get to work. That and the fact that my job pretty much starts when I want it to, so I was in no hurry. Choosing the hours that I work is one of the few perks of being a bounty hunter. Which means I didn't have to get up before the sun if I didn't want to. Ranger was still in the shower when I called Ella. I was wearing the robe again. If I kept this up, Ella was going to think I didn't have any clothes. I thought about it for a minute, and gave myself a mental headsmack. Ella would be right. I _didn't_ have any clothes here. I was supposed to meet Ranger for supper last night, and I had planned on stopping off at my apartment after the mall trip to grab some things to bring over in case I spent the night. But I never got the chance. I was now faced with two choices. Wear the clothes that I had on yesterday, or get dressed in a clean Rangeman uniform that I'd left here from one of the times I'd worked for Ranger. Clean won out.

As I walked towards the closet I heard a knock at the front door. Ella. I ran a hand through my hair, and tightened the belt on the robe before leaving the bedroom. I unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door to Ella, and breakfast.

"Good morning," she said.

"Morning," I said to her, but I was distracted by the delicious aroma coming from the tray. Ella was a great cook. And everything she made tasted great. But she worked for Ranger. And Ranger liked healthy food. Whole-wheat bagels, non-fat cream cheese, egg white omelets. I'm not saying those foods are bad, but I think they're sort of a waste of Ella's talent. I'm betting she could make a mean batch of pancakes if Ranger ever allowed her to.

"What's for breakfast?" I asked Ella.

"I brought Ranger his usual breakfast," Ella said,"but I thought you might need some comfort food after what happened yesterday so I made you french toast this morning. I hope Ranger won't be upset with me."

I almost fainted from joy.

"Don't worry about Ranger," I told her."He won't mind."

"Would you like to eat in the dining room? I could set the table for you."

"You don't have to do that, the kitchen's fine."

We walked to the kitchen and Ella put the tray down on the bar."How are you this morning?" She asked me.

"I'm good," I said."Except for the fact that I have a busy day ahead of me."

Ella laughed."I can imagine."

I walked with her back to the front door."If you need anything else just let me know," she said to me.

I closed and relocked the door. Ranger was coming out of the bedroom when I stepped back into the kitchen. He was dressed in a lightweight black long-sleeved sweater pushed halfway up his forearms, and black dress pants. His hair was still damp from the shower. And he had a black holster with a black gun attached to his belt. My eye's glazed over, and I almost started drooling again. This time, Ella's french toast had nothing to do with it. It was hard to decide which one I wanted more, Ranger or the french toast.

I must have been staring a little too long, because Ranger's face creased into a smile."Babe," Ranger said,"you just looked me up and down like I was lunch."

And dinner. And dessert, I thought. I felt my face heat up from embarrassment at being caught staring. I blew out a sigh and turned away from him, sitting down hard on one of the barstools.

Ranger was still smiling. Not embarrassed at all. Probably he found my ability to blush amusing. After all, we spent the last two nights together naked.

He closed the distance between us and kissed me on the top of my head."I like the fact that I can still make you blush," Ranger said to me.

He could make me do a lot more than just blush. Great. Now my mind was full of naked and sweaty Ranger thoughts. That, for sure, wasn't going to help with the blushing problem.

Ranger poured us each a cup of coffee before sitting down next to me. He lifted the covers off the breakfast dishes and looked at the plates, then over at me, his eyebrow raised."French toast?"

"Ella thought I might need some sugar in my system to get through today," I told him."You're not allowed to be mad at her."

"Who says I'm going to be mad?"

"Ella. She was afraid you wouldn't understand the need for comfort food."

"First Hal. And now Ella," Ranger said, a hint of disbelief in his voice."You're corrupting my employees."

"I know," I said, smiling."It's fun. Do you think if I work on the men long enough they'll stop following me around when I tell them to?"

"For their sake, they'd better not," Ranger said."You should be happy that you don't have someone permanently watching over you."

"I_ do _have someone permanent watching over me,_" _I told him."_You_!If I'm not being followed by one of your men, you have me or my car bugged."

Ranger handed me my plate."I'm keeping you safe, Babe."

This was true. And although sometimes it felt a little invasive, the majority of the time I was happy to have Ranger looking out for me._  
_

We both dug into our food. I wasn't paying attention to anything besides breakfast, and I realized I had missed something Ranger said.

"What were you saying?" I asked.

"I was saying that even with the GPS and transmitters you still had someone try to kill you. I'll have to find more effective ways of protecting you."

I didn't like the sound of that."You have a business to run," I said to him."You can't spend all your time, and money, tracking me."

"I don't know, Babe," Ranger said."Keeping you out of trouble seems to be a full time job."

"_Keeping me out of trouble?" _I repeated, narrowing my eyes at him."I don't need anyone to _keep_ me out of trouble. I'm a grown woman, not a child. I can take care of myself."

"That's true. But I can take care of you better."

That was a fact, but I wasn't about to agree to anything else Ranger might have in store for me. Having a bodyguard once in a while is one thing. Being under surveillance 24/7 is a whole other matter entirely.

Neither of us spoke as we finished breakfast. Normal for Ranger. Not normal for me. I was still feeling grouchy. Everyone in my life kept trying to tell me what to do. They all have opinions about how I should live my life. And especially on how to do, or not do, my job. My mother, my cop friends, the cashier at the grocery store ... And the worst of them all is the men in my life. First Morelli. And now Ranger. Sure, I've had my share of problems since becoming a bond agent, but who wouldn't? I mean, I went from buying womens' underwear to catching criminals! Everything up until now has been on the job training for me, so I'm bound to screw up sometimes, right? And I've managed to fumble my way through most of my cases without injury. Mine or anyone else's. That should count for something. I wasn't completely inept at my job despite what the people around me might think.

Ranger was the first to speak."Earth to Steph," he said.

I looked over at Ranger."Huh?"

"It's not like you to be this quiet," Ranger said."Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah. My mind wandered for a minute, that's all," I told Ranger.

"As long as it always comes back."

"It's back now," I said."Here's the thing, I know I can't completely stop you from monitoring me, but there's a limit. I'm not going to be followed around like some criminal. I appreciate you wanting to keep me safe and all, but you're not responsible for every bad thing that might happen to me. I can't stop _you _from doingyourjob even though it's more dangerous than mine. And you can't stop me from doing mine."

"Babe," Ranger said."I don't really want you to give up your job. I just want you take more precautions while you're doing it."

"Hey! That's not fair!" I said to him."How was I to know that months after catching an FTA, he was going to shoot his girlfriend the same day I was at the mall? And that had nothing to do with my job. I was there shopping like everyone else."

"Why did this guy want to kill you?" Ranger asked me.

Shit. Harlo was pissed at me because I arrested him. Twice. Okay, so maybe it had a tiny bit to do with my job.

"I'm always careful," I told Ranger, trying to sound convincing."I've just had some unfortunate luck."

"That's an understatement."

I blew out a sigh."Point is, we both have jobs that are more risky than most. As long as we both agree to stay as safe as we possibly can, there shouldn't be any more discussions about it."

He locked eyes with me for a long moment.

"Deal," Ranger said."With a few exceptions."

"No exceptions," I told him.

"Babe, I warned you that if I think you're life is in danger," Ranger said,"I'm going to do something about it."

"How much danger are we talking about?"

Ranger gave his head a single almost imperceptible shake."Only you would ask that?"

"Fine," I said."Only if I'm in serious danger, though. Not the everyday kind of stuff." I mean, I'm not a total idiot. I've been kidnapped more times than I cared to admit. And knowing that Ranger can find me almost anywhere if it happened again is reassuring.

We cleaned up the kitchen and I followed Ranger to the front door, watching him as he pocketed his keys."I have a meeting this morning in the boardroom. After that I should be in my office for the rest of the day. I want you to call me throughout the day so I know where you are."

"My car's monitored," I said to him."You'll already know where I am."

Ranger just stared at me, not saying anything. I gave a defeated sigh."Okay, okay, I'll call."

"Thank you."

"You're such a bully," I said to him.

"Whatever works," Ranger said, with a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Men!"

He ran a fingertip along my hairline and tucked a stray curl behind my ear."Did I mention how cute you look when you make that face?"

"Oh no you don't," I said."I'm not falling for that again."

Ranger leaned in close, his lips lightly brushing my ear."Tired of me already?" He asked.

Yeah, right. Like it's at all possible to get tired of Ranger."You're late,_ remember_?"

"Yeah," Ranger said."I rememember."

Then he kissed me. As soon as his tongue met mine, I felt myself go damp and thought, what the hell? What's another hour, or two? The police, my parents, Lula, they all could wait a little longer. After all, the police station is open all day, and my parents weren't going anywhere. As for Lula, this wasn't the first disaster of mine she'd been involved in so I knew she'd be fine. That meant I didn't need to hurry, right?

Ranger must have thought differently, because he lifted his head and looked down at me."I have to get to work," Ranger said."And you have to go to the police station."

"Now?" I asked, still feeling a little dazed.

Ranger's face creased into a smile."You want me bad, don't you, Babe?"

He was right. I wanted him bad."You wish," I said to him instead, and pushed against his chest."Go catch a bad guy, or something."

Ranger's smile widened."See you tonight," he said."And don't forget to check in. If I don't hear from you, I'm sending someone out after you."

"I said I'd call, and I'll call. You don't need to threaten me."

"It wasn't a threat," Ranger said.

I was feeling very mature at that moment so I made a face and stuck my tongue out at him."

Ranger laughed softly."Hold that thought till tonight," he said.

"Maybe I won't be here tonight," I said, starting to feel grouchy again."Did you ever consider that?"

"No," Ranger said."You'll be here," he said, sounding much too confident for my liking.

I had a good mind to go back to my apartment tonight, but we both knew I wouldn't go. I loved Ranger's apartment. Ranger had the worlds best bed, even when he wasn't in it with me. And he also had Ella. A peanut butter sandwich is good and all, but it didn't compare to a home-cooked meal. I suppose I could just go to my parents' house for dinner, but then I'd have to deal with my family. Not that I don't like my family. It's just that most of the time they drive me nuts.

"I think I lost you again," Ranger said, his thumb brushing back and forth across my lips.

"I was trying to decide if I should have dinner with my parents' or with Rex."

"We already decided that," Ranger said."You'll be having dinner here."

"No," I said to him,"you decided that. I don't remember agreeing to it."

Ranger pulled me closer and kissed me. As the kiss intensified, my legs quickly turned to jelly. It was a good thing Ranger had his arms around me holding me against him, because I didn't think I'd be able to stand on my own.

Ranger's lips swept along my jawline to my ear."I'll see you tonight," he whispered against it. And he left.

I took a moment to get my body settled down. And when I finally got air back into my lungs, I headed toward Ranger's bathroom.

I took a shower, blow-dried my hair, and spent a considerable amount of time putting makeup on. I knew that this was going to be a three-coats-of-mascara kind of day. I put on the Rangeman uniform and looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. I looked like a miniature Ranger. Too bad Ranger's skills didn't come with the uniform, I thought. I grabbed my shoulder bag, and car keys, off the sideboard and locked the apartment behind me. I got into the elevator and gave the guys in the control room a smile, and a wave, to show them that I was okay. The elevator opened at the garage level and I walked to my car.

I pulled out of the Rangeman lot and looked in my rearview mirror. I didn't see any shiny black SUV's following me. Good. Ranger listened to me. Yeah, right. Just because I couldn't see anyone behind me, didn't mean that there wasn't anyone there. Ranger's men had a way of making themselves disappear when the need arose. I pointed the CR-V in the direction of the Burg, drove through the maze of side streets, and parked in front of my parents' house.

My Grandma Mazur was on the little front porch waiting for me before I had even gotten out of the car. I assume that the phone's been ringing non-stop since yesterday afternoon.

"It's about time," Grandma yelled to me when I got out of my car."I've got an appointment today to get my hair done, and I gotta know everything."

I walked up the sidewalk and slid past Grandma into the house. "You already know everything," I said."It was on television."

"Yeah," Grandma said."But we don't know how you got to be held hostage in the first place."

I saw my mother in the kitchen standing over the ironing board. Chances were good that she was re-ironing everything in the house. Her lips tightened when she saw me. I figured since she already had the iron out, I might as well get this over with.

"Lula and I had just finished lunch in the food court when we heard a gunshot," I said. I could see my mother out of the corner of my eye making the sign of the cross."We didn't know where the shot came from and before we could move, I saw the shooter. He was a guy I'd picked up a couple times for failing to appear. He recognized me, and decide I'd make his getaway easier. You know the rest."

"That's it?" Grandma asked."I need more than that. He was going to try to kill you, right?"

"Well," I said,"he did mention something along those lines."

"Holy Mary, Mother of God," my mother said."How can I sleep at night knowing there are people out there wanting to kill you? Why can't you be more like your sister Valerie? She's happily married with three beautiful children. No one ever tries to kill her."

Here we go again. My perfect sister Valerie. I wasn't going to admit this to my mother, but I've had more than one fantasy about killing my sister. Okay, so maybe actually killing Valerie wasn't part of my fantasy, but I had definitely thought about stun-gunning her more than once. All my life I've been compared to Valerie. And I've always come up short. Valerie was more popular than me in school. Valerie had better grades. And Valerie would never have climbed out the bathroom window after being grounded. Of course, Valerie had no reason to try climbing out of the bathroom window since she never got grounded in the first place. So you can see why I had the urge to stun her once in a while. After Valerie had moved back to Jersey, we had declared a truce of some sort. Either that, or we both just grew up.

Now seemed like a good time to make my exit before she started complaining about my job."Gotta go," I said to my mother."Things to do."

"You're not staying for lunch?" My mother asked.

"I have to go to the police station and give a statement."

My mother crossed herself again.

"I could go with you," Grandma said.

"Not necessary," I told Grandma Mazur."I don't know how long this will take. And I have to stop in at the bonds office when I'm done. You don't want to miss your appointment."

"That's true. It'll be standing room only today," Grandma said."Everyone knows I'm gonna be there. And they'll all want the scoop on the shooting. I'll be lucky to get my hair done at all."

I'm glad something good will have come out of this. Grandma Mazur will have celebrity status at all the local businesses for at least the week.

"I'll talk to you later," I told my mother and grandmother on my way out the door. That was fun, I said to myself, sliding back behind the wheel of my car.

I headed across town to the police station. Trenton cops were housed in a not-so-pretty building, in a not-so-nice neighborhood, but conveniently located if you were waiting for a crime to happen. The courthouse, with an armed guard at the door, and state-of-the-art metal detectors, was on one side of the building. The police station, decorated with bullet holes in the walls, and utilitarian flooring that could hold up to pepper-spray-induced snot, was on the other. I parked in the public lot across the street and stuffed my pepper spray, and stun gun, into the console before getting out. I gave my name to the cop who was sitting in the bulletproof cage in the lobby, and Morelli stepped out of the elevator a few minutes later.

Please God, don't let Morelli be the one to take my statement. He walked over to me, not looking surprised to see me standing there, as if he'd been waiting for me. I saw Morelli's mouth tighten when he noticed the Rangeman uniform I was wearing. Not a good sign, I thought.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I work here," he said.

"Very funny. I thought I'd see Eddie or Costanza." Or any other officer who happened to be in the building at that very moment.

"I wanted to know exactly what happened yesterday," Morelli said."And you have to give a statement about it so I offered my services to take it."

Oh crap, I thought. This was going to be uncomfortable. Well, it could be worse Stephanie, I said to myself. Ranger could have insisted on coming with you. I started sweating at the thought. I wasn't real good with confrontations. And having Morelli and Ranger in the same room as me, together, wasn't something I wanted to think too much about.

Morelli got me a cup of coffee, and ushered me into a depressing little room off the main hall. The room was empty except for a table and two chairs. I sat in one of the chairs and looked around. I felt guilty just sitting in here; like I should be confessing to something.Morelli plugged in a tape recorder and punched the record button.

"Okay, start at the beginning," Morelli said, being completely professional.

If Morelli could act like this was just part of his job description, than so could I. I'm an adult. I can do this. Just tell him what happened and then you can leave, I thought. No sweat. Yeah, right.

I didn't think the Trenton PD cared a whole lot about Lula's shoe emergency, so I started with Lula and I standing by the food court and hearing the gunshot nearby. Morelli asked me a couple of questions and I tried to give him as many details as possible, which wasn't hard considering I could still feel the cold metal of the gun pressed to my head. I couldn't read Morelli since he had his cop face on again, but when I got to the part where Harlo threatened to kill me, Morelli's eyes got hard and I felt the air pressure change in the room. Joe loved me. And he didn't like it when people tried to kill me. That hadn't changed. We might not be together now but time, or other people, couldn't erase the history that we have.

Twenty minutes later, Morelli turned the recorder off. I sat back in my chair, exhausted. Reliving the ordeal with Harlo had drained what little energy I had left. And I didn't have a whole lot to start with.

"Have you seen Lula this morning?" Morelli asked.

"No. I was going to stop in at the office after I was done here."

"Tell her she needs to come in and give her statement."

"I can tell her," I said,"but I don't think it'll do much good. She doesn't like police stations." That was an understatement. Lula _hated_ police stations. Lula's previous career landed her in jail on more than one occasion. And now just looking at police station was enough to make Lula break into a cold sweat and head for the nearest fast food place.

"Have her call me when she's ready to come in," Morelli said."I'll meet her in the lobby. And I'll take her statement myself so she won't have to talk to any other cops."

I didn't know what I had been expecting, but it wasn't this. For Morelli to be this accommodating. To me or to Lula."What's going on?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're being awfully nice," I said, as if that explained it.

"I'm a nice guy."

"You area nice guy, _usually_," I said,"but not when someone's tried to kill me. You yell. You also wave your arms around a lot. And you swear in Italian when someone tries to kill me. And if that wasn't enough, now you're being considerate of Lula's cop phobia. So ... what's going on?"

"I don't think you want me to answer that?"

"Why?"

Morelli looked at me for a moment before answering."Because if I tell you what's going on," Morelli said,"it's going to make you uncomfortable. And when you're uncomfortable, you run away. And then I won't see you again until you're involved in yet another catastrophe."

Uh-oh."This is about seeing me?" I asked, but I didn't really want the answer. I could feel myself inching towards the door even as I spoke.

Morelli shook his head at me."See," he said,"that's what I mean. You're already halfway out the door and I haven't even said, or done, anything yet."

"Yet?" I asked, my voice sounding a lot more Minnie Mouse than I would have liked.

"You don't need to freak out," Morelli said."All I meant to say was that ... I miss you."

"Uh-huh," I said. I could feel panic rising in my chest. I needed to get out of there. And quick, before Morelli said anything else."I should be going now. You know, things to do, people to see. I'll give Lula your message," I said, over my shoulder as I practically ran out of the room.

Breathe, Stephanie, I said to myself when I got back to my car. So, Morelli misses you, that doesn't change anything. I didn't buy it. Of course, it changes things. What if Morelli decided he wanted a relationship with me again? Just the thought of that was enough to make breathing difficult. Morelli wore a gun on his hip, and Ranger had guns hidden on multiple parts of his body. I didn't want to know what would happen if Morelli tried to restake a claim.

Wait a minute, I told myself. This was dumb. Talk about having a high opinion of yourself, Stephanie, I said to myself. Ranger and Morelli weren't likely to fight to the death over_ you_. They were two grown men. And they would act like two grown men. They wouldn't do anything stupid and macho like try to kill each other, would they? Just in case, I was going to try to stay far away from Morelli. And I sure as heck wasn't going to mention this to Ranger. After all, Joe didn't say anything besides he missed me. He could have just meant he missed me as a friend.

My first rules concerning mental health were: ignore and deny. If you ignore the problem, or deny it's existence, long enough maybe the problem will just quietly go away. And you'll never have to deal with it at all.

I took another deep breath and hauled out my cell phone. I punched in Ranger number and he immediately came on the line.

"Babe."

"I'm finished at the police station," I said."I'm heading over to the office next."

"How did it go?" Ranger asked me.

"It went ... um ... great."

There was a slight pause."What aren't you telling me?"

Good going, Stephanie. Now he knows something's up. You're supposed to be such a good liar. Why can't you do it now?

"Nothing," I said."Everything's fine. I was just checking in."

There was a moment of phone silence. I was fairly certain Ranger was reading my mind long distance.

Thankfully, Ranger let it go."Call me when you leave the office," Ranger said.

"Do you really think that's necessary?"

Disconnect.

I blew a strand of hair off my forehead. I guess I'll take that as a yes. I turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the lot.

Fifteen minutes later, I was parked at the bond's office. Connie looked around her computer at me when I walked into the office.

"I heard what happened," Connie said."How are you doing?"

"I'm good," I said."It was scary at the time, but nothing happened to me. His girlfriend wasn't so lucky."

"I heard she was going to be okay."

"Yeah. Good thing Harlo was a bad shot."

Connie looked me over, noticing the uniform for the first time. She smiled wide."Looks like you got lucky more than once yesterday."

"You could say that," I said to Connie. Now it was my turn to smile. I most definitely got _lucky_ more than once yesterday.

"Go ahead," Connie said, noticing the smile."Rub it in."

"Have you seen Lula yet?"

"No. But she did call to say that she'd be late."

Lula was always late. What was surprising was that she called in the first place."Why would she call to tell you that? She usually just shows up for work whenever she wants to anyway."

"I think she was hoping I'd tell her that she could have the day off," Connie said.

"That makes sense," I said."Did you give her the day off?"

"No."

Connie looked through a stack of folders on her desk."If you feel up to it," Connie said to me,"I have four new FTA's for you."

"Four?"

"Busy day at court."

Connie was handing the files over to me when Lula burst through the door.

"I'm here. Are you happy now?" Lula said, not looking at all happy to be there.

"Yeah," Connie said,"I'm freakin' ecstatic."

"I don't think I should have had to come to work today. I had a real bad night," Lula said."I couldn't sleep. I just tossed and turned all night. I kept seeing that gun pointed at me everytime I closed my eyes. I even had to make a run to the store for an emergency chocolate bar." Lula turned to me."How about you? You sleep okay?" Lula asked."You don't look sleep deprived."

Connie was back to smiling."She had some help getting to sleep," Connie said.

Lula checked out my uniform."I see that," she said."Don't seem right somehow. Some idiot threatens to put a hole in me, and I got to make do with a candy bar. _You_ get threatened, and you got Ranger tucking you in. I don't much care for people shooting at me, but I wouldn't mind swapping places with you in some other areas of your life."

I'll admit, my life did have a few bright spots."I just got back from the police station," I said to Lula."You have to go down and talk to them."

"No way. No can do. Uh-uh," Lula said."I can't go to no police station. I hate police stations. They have cops there. And I hate cops almost as much as I hate police stations. Except Morelli, he's okay for a cop. And he's got one fine ass on him."

I had to agree. Morelli did have one fine ass on him. Unfortunately, he also tended to act like one."Funny you should mention Morelli," I said,"he was the one who took my statement and ..."

Lula interrupted me."_Morelli_?"

"Yep."

"You were alone in a room with Morelli?" Lula asked me."What did you do?"

"I told him about Harlo."

"And then?"

I didn't really want to say anything about Morelli to Lula and Connie, but I knew from past experience Lula would keep after me until she got all the dirt.

"Then he sort of told me that he missed me." There, I said it. And now that I had said it out loud, it really didn't sound all that bad. I was overreacting to the whole Morelli thing, that's all.

Lula's eyes bugged out of her head."Morelli told you that he missed you?"

"Yeah," I told her.

"Does Ranger know about this?" Connie asked.

"I forgot to mention that part of the conversation to him," I said. I could feel the panic returning.

"Good call," Connie said.

"Yeah," Lula said."It's not like Ranger and Morelli are ordinary men. They got more testosterone between them than the rest of the country has combined. You wouldn't want a face-off between Morelli and Ranger. They'd kill each other."

"I'm sure Joe didn't mean anything," I said, trying out denial again."After all, he didn't say, or do, anything that would make me think that he'd want a relationship with me again."

"What did you do when he said he missed you?" Connie asked.

"I might have hurried out of the room."

"So you don't know what else he wanted, because you ran out before he got the chance tell you?" Lula asked.

"Uh-huh," I said.

"If I were you," Connie said,"I'd be real careful," Connie said."Both Ranger and Morelli have ways of making someone disappear."

"Connie's right," Lula added."And no one would finger them for it if they did."

"I'm not telling you, or Lula, anything ever again," I said to them."Ranger and Joe will not make _anyone_ disappear." I figured that Morelli and Ranger were safe from each other, but I wasn't so certain about the criminal element in Trenton. It's rumored that Ranger kills people on a regular basis. And Morelli is a cop. There's no telling who he'd meet up with during a shift. So to say that they wouldn't make _anyone_ disappear was sort of a fib.

"If you say so," Lula said."You have two of the hottest men in Trenton fighting over you. I tell you, it ain't fair."

"They are _not_ fighting over me. As I was saying ..." I said to Lula,"Morelli said to call him when you're ready to come in. He'll meet you in the lobby, and take your statement himself."

"That's real comforting, but I still don't want to go."

"You have to."

"But I haven't even had lunch yet," Lula said."If I have to go to the police station, I'm gonna need something to calm my stomach."

I blew out a sigh."How about I treat for lunch? And in return, you go directly to the station."

"I guess that would be okay," Lula said."I'm feeling better about this already. I'm all ready to go, too. I didn't even put my purse down."

"What about the filing?" Connie asked.

"You heard Steph," Lula said."I got a duty to uphold as a citizen of this here great nation."

Connie and I both did an eyeroll."Go," Connie said."But you'd better come straight here when you're done."

"Boy, that hurts," Lula said."Coming back here was exactly what I was gonna do."

"Yeah, right," Connie said.

Vinnie was out of town on business and Connie didn't want to close up the office so I offered to bring something back for her. I took her order, and Lula and I climbed into my CR-V and headed down Hamilton.

"Where do you feel like going to eat?" I asked Lula.

"I don't know. I'm having a hard time narrowing it down. I got lots of cravings."

"You can't put this off all day," I told Lula."You're going to have to just suck it up and pick a place."

"You know what?" Lula said to me."You can be a real cranky-pants sometimes."

"I just want this whole thing over with."

"Yep, I'm sure that's what it is," Lula said."It has nothing at all to do with your love life."

"My love life is just fine," I said."And I'm not _cranky_. I'm just a little ... stressed."

"Sure. I knew that."

I gave Lula a sideways look."Where are we going?"

"Cluck-in-a-Bucket," Lula said."And then Tasty Pastry. I need a Clucky burger and a large side of fries. And some doughnuts for dessert. And maybe an eclair or two would help my nerves."

I knew what Lula was doing. She was going to drag out lunch as long as possible. But I had to agree with her, doughnuts did sound good.

I pulled into the Cluck-in-a-Bucket lot. It was just past noon, but the restaurant wasn't crowded. Lula ordered a burger and fries, and gallon-sized soda. I ordered a chocolate shake. I wasn't in a burger mood. I was holding out for the doughnuts.

Twenty-five minutes later, I was looking at the clock for the third time. I was right. Lula was stalling.

"Are you almost done?" I asked her.

"I heard one of them doctor's on TV say that eating fast is bad for digestion. I'm thinkin' about my health here."

"You're eating fried chicken and french fries. I don't think you're all that worried about your health."

"Your ass," Lula said.

Lula finished the last of her fries and washed them down with the rest of her soda. We dumped our trash and set out for Tastry Pastry.

A feeling of peace always came over me when I stepped through the bakery door. The sweet smell of powdered sugar and vanilla in the air. The colorful sprinkles on the cakes and cookies. My heart, and my mind, automatically slowed down when I was in the presence of massive quantities of sugar, butter, and lard. Who needs yoga when you can get the same feeling from stepping inside a bakery?

Marjorie Lando was behind the counter."What'll it be?" Marjorie asked.

"Two Boston creams. And two jelly doughnuts." I had every intention of bringing Connie two of the doughnuts, but depending on how long Lula was planning on dragging her feet, I just might eat all four.

I had my doughnuts bagged and paid for and Lula still hadn't made a decision on what to get."We still have to pick up Connie's lunch. Just take one of everything if you can't decide."

"That's a good idea," Lula said to me."Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're too busy trying to figure out ways of avoiding the police station. Just call Joe and get it over with."

"Fine," Lula said to me. Then she ordered half a dozen doughnuts and two eclairs for the road.

We hit the McDonald's drive-thru for Connie's lunch, and then made a circle back to the office. The whole trip took more than an hour. Lula called Morelli when she got into her Firebird, and told him she was on her way. I watched her drive off, and sent up a silent prayer that Lula wouldn't discuss anything other than Harlo with Morelli. I swung through the office door and handed over the McDonald's bag to Connie, along with two of the doughnuts. I picked up the four files I'd left on her desk, and stuck them in my shoulder bag.

"I have to go check on Rex. I'll do some phone work on these guys tonight and see what I come up with." Hopefully, when I woke up tomorrow morning, I'd want to be a bounty hunter again. Today, I couldn't seem to work up any enthusiasm for the job.

I promised Connie I'd be in tomorrow and climbed back into my car. I locked myself in and called Ranger. I felt stupid calling, but making a phone call was better than the alternative. And I knew the only reason why Ranger was being so unreasonable was because he was scared of losing me. If the positions were reversed, I wouldn't hesitate to shadow Ranger wherever he went. Not that I would be much good as a bodyguard since I hated anything to do with guns. Especially using them. And after thinking back on the Ramos case, and when Scrog was hunting Ranger, if I had been involved with Ranger at the time, I would have insisted he not go anywhere without back up. So I couldn't get too mad at him. If I was still shook up thinking about Ranger almost dying that long ago, I didn't want to guess as to what he was thinking about what could have happened to me yesterday.

I took Hamilton, cut through a few side streets, and turned into my lot. I let myself into my apartment and I could here Rex running on his wheel. I gave him fresh water and food. And I also gave him a corn chip and a green bean as an apology for not coming home last night. I didn't think Rex cared a whole lot about whether or not I came home, but I felt guilty anyway.

I thought about the four FTA's I had in my bag, but I wasn't interested in looking for them. Tomorrow, I said to myself. I'll start looking for them first thing tomorrow morning. Maybe. And since Ranger was right in thinking that I'd be going back to Rangeman, I packed a small overnight bag to take with me. Packing a bag didn't take up nearly enough time. There was still a couple hours left to kill before Ranger got off work. What could I do? Clean my bathroom? Nope. Do my laundry? Uh-uh. Go back to my parents' house? Not likely. Take a nap? Now we're talking. After all, I didn't get that much sleep last night. And if I went back to Rangeman, chances were good that I wouldn't get much sleep tonight, either. I kicked off my shoes and slid under the comforter.

The ringing of my cell phone woke me. I stumbled out of bed and hurried to the kitchen where I'd left it.

"Yeah?" I said, still half asleep.

It was my mother."Are you coming over for dinner tonight?"

"No," I told her."I already made plans with Ranger."

"You can bring him along. He hasn't been over for dinner in weeks."

If it was up to Ranger, it would be _years_.

"No can do," I told my mother."He's working late."

"He can't take the time to have dinner? Who doesn't have time to sit down at a table and have a decent meal?"

"He has some things to finish up. He was sort of busy yesterday." Busy worrying about someone putting a bullet in my head.

There was a moment of phone silence, and I could tell my mother was crossing herself again. I was a trial to my mother.

"Well, you make sure to tell Ranger that he's welcome anytime."

"I will," I said. And I disconnected.

I looked at the clock on my microwave. Four-thirty. I took a moment to wake up, and then called Lula.

"How did it go?" I asked when she answered.

"I got all worked up for nothing," she said."I just told Morelli everything that happened. He didn't seem to understand how important finding the right shoes are, though."

Nothing new there. Morelli had never fully understood the importance of shoes.

"You didn't talk about anything else, did you?" I asked, holding my breath, waiting for her answer.

"You mean about you and Ranger? Or about what Morelli wants with you?"

"Yeah."

"Nope," Lula said."I didn't say nothin' about that. Though, I should have. I think you're gonna need some help here."

"No," I said."I don't need any help."

"You sure? Cause I wouldn't mind taking one of _those_ men off your hands."

"Thanks for the offer," I said."But I'll figure something out."

"Let me know if you change your mind. I'm good at this relationship shit."

"You're not even in a relationship," I told Lula, feeling the need to point out the obvious.

"That's only because I don't want to be in one right now," Lula said."I could be in a relationship if I wanted. And I was engaged once, remember that?"

"That doesn't count. You tricked Tank. He went to sleep and woke up engaged. You even bought yourself the ring."

"I knew he was gonna pop the question," Lula said."He was just a little slow askin', so I helped him out a bit."

"Uh-huh," I said. That's why Tank had broken out in a cold sweat everytime the subject of marriage came up.

"I didn't really want to get married, anyway," Lula said."I just got caught up in the moment. There's too many men out there to settle on just one."

I couldn't handle two men in my life, nevermind any more than that. Just the thought of it made _me_ break out in a cold sweat.

I said goodbye to Lula and stuffed my phone back into my bag. I tapped on the glass of Rex's cage and said goodbye before going back to the bedroom to get my shoes and overnight bag.

When I stepped out of the elevator in the lobby, I bumped into Mr. Kleinschmidt.

"Way to go, chicky," Mr. Kleinschmidt said."You were the top story on all the news channels."

"Lucky me."

"This building was real dull before you moved here," Mr Kleinschmidt said."Now the tenants don't have to make stupid small talk about weather, and the amount of fiber in their diets. We just talk about what trouble you've gotten yourself into that day. It's a good conversation starter."

"I'm glad I can help," I said, walking toward the lobby door.

That's nice, I thought. I'm bringing people together. I thought it would be even nicer if I could do it without almost dying in the process. I unlocked my car and dumped my bags onto the passenger seat. I slid behind the wheel and plugged the key into the ignition.

The drive to Rangeman was quiet, giving me the chance to think about my life if I wanted to. I didn't want to. My life had a couple problems. And I didn't want to deal with any of them. I pulled up to the Rangeman gate, flashed my key, and parked in one of Ranger's spaces. I waved to the guys in the control room, and pulled the folders Connie gave me from my bag while I waited for the doors to open. I let myself into Ranger's apartment and walked straight to the kitchen. I pulled a beer out of the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table to start reading through the files.

The front door opened and closed ten minutes later. I heard Ranger's keys hit the silver tray on the sideboard and Ranger appeared in the kitchen.

"I thought you'd still be working," I said to Ranger.

Ranger walked to the table and kissed me on my forehead."I have a few calls to make, but they can wait until after we've had dinner."

"Boy, you were late going in this morning," I said to him."And now you're leaving work early? I'm starting to think I'm a bad influence."

"Rangeman _would_ benefit from you staying out of trouble," Ranger said.

I made a face at him. Ranger smiled, and sat down next to me.

He gestured to the stack of files in front of me."Looks like you're going to be busy."

"Yeah," I said."I got four new guys to catch."

Ranger picked up one of the folders and flipped through the pages."Quentin Cortiz," Ranger read out loud."I know him. I picked up his older brother, Marcus, last year for assault. And once before that for possession. He's a heroin dealer. And he gets a little touchy when someone moves into his territory."

"What about this Quentin guy? Is he involved in selling heroin?"

"No," Ranger said."The younger brother is only a recreational user. He doesn't have the stomach for dealing."

"That's good to know."

Ranger locked eyes with me."That doesn't mean he's going to be an easy catch. And if the brother is around, he'll try to stop you by any means necessary."

A knot of fear formed in my stomach.

"Let me know when you're ready to go after him," Ranger said."I'll go with you."

If this was any other time, I would have dug in my heels and went on a rant about how I didn't need help to catch a skip. But Ranger _did _know where to look for this guy. And if I was being totally honest, I didn't really want to go off alone to apprehend someone who might try to kill me. The Harlo thing was still fresh in my mind, and I didn't want a repeat performance.

"Thanks," I told Ranger."I'd appreciate the help."

Ranger looked at me."That was too easy," Ranger said.

"What?"

"You're not going to argue about me going with you?"

"Nope."

"What's the deal here?"

"There's no deal," I told Ranger."You know where my skip hangs out so it makes sense for you to help me with the bust." I didn't want Ranger to know that I was still a little freaked.

Ranger just stared at me. I think he was doing that mind-reading thing again. Ranger knew that nothing was ever that simple with me. And he didn't buy my answer. And why would he? My reason sounded rational. And maybe that was the problem. I'm not known for thinking rationally. Lucky for me, Ella knocked at the door and I was let off the hook. Ranger unlocked the door, took the tray from Ella, and walked back to the kitchen. He set the plates out onto the breakfast bar and uncorked a bottle of red wine, pouring us each a glass. Ella had brought us pork tenderloin, roasted red potatoes, and steamed vegetables. I blew out a sigh. No dessert. I guess comfort food was a one time thing.

We didn't speak much during dinner, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Unless Ranger was instructing me on bounty hunter etiquette, was angry with me over something stupid I've done, or had his tongue down my throat, I hadn't a clue what Ranger was thinking. Maybe it was better that I didn't know.

I put the leftover food away, and the dishes in the dishwasher, while Ranger made the rest of his phone calls. I was tired but not enough to go to sleep so I took my time getting ready for bed, and slipping on my pj's. Usually when I stay at Ranger's apartment I just use one of his T-shirts to sleep in. Having my own clothes here to change into was a little odd; like we were one step closer to cohabitation. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I loved Ranger's apartment, but it wasn't home. Yet.

I stood in the doorway to Ranger's office and looked in at him. He was sitting at his desk. And he was still on the phone. The second I stepped into the doorway his eyes fixed on me. I sent him a small smile, and waited quietly until he ended his call. Ranger was answering the person on the other end of the phone, but his attention was focused on me. Or should I say his focus was on my pj's. Ranger's eyes were on my chest, then slowly moved to my little cotton boxers, then back up again. And it was clear that he was really enjoying the tank top._ A lot_. He wrapped up the call, still looking at me. Ranger's gaze could be compaired to a laser beam. You couldn't look away even knowing that you could come away burned. And my body reacted the way it always does when Ranger was close by. Nipples tingled, knees went weak, and private places warmed.

I got a grip on my hormones."Are you coming to bed?" I asked him.

"I have to call Tank, and then I'll be in."

"Okay," I said slightly disappointed. After watching Ranger, I was having some nonsleeping thoughts. I slid under the covers of Ranger's fabulous bed, and wondered how I was going to fall asleep. My mind was tired, but my body was now wide awake thanks to Ranger. I closed my eyes and told myself to go to sleep. I didn't think it was possible, but I did.

I don't know how long I slept, but when I opened my eyes the room was dark, and I felt the heat of the man curled around me. Ranger. I turned my head slightly to look over at him. He was awake. And he was watching me.

I turned so that I was facing him."What time is it?" I asked.

Ranger gathered me closer, and brushed my tangled hair away from my face."Almost ten o'clock," Ranger said.

I'd slept about two hours. Not a lot of sleep, but I felt surprisingly rested. I also felt Ranger's body against mine. And I was thinking how good I would feel if he was even closer. I snuggled into him and pressed a kiss to his chest.

"Aren't you tired?" Ranger asked me, the corners of his mouth tipped up in the almost smile.

"Nope," I said."How about you? Are you tired?"

Ranger slid the strap of my tank top off my shoulder."No," Ranger whispered against my ear.

"What are we going to do if neither one of us can sleep?"

"Don't worry, Babe," Ranger said,"I have plenty of ideas on what we can do."

"I guess_ you've _spent some time thinking about this?"

"More than I should," Ranger admitted.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the lips."Maybe you'd like to tell me some of _your_ ideas."

"I'd rather show you, Babe," Ranger said. His hands were under my knit top, and instantly my tank top was lifted over my head and tossed onto the floor. The cotton boxers soon followed. After carrying out a good portion of his ideas, both Ranger and I were exhausted and finally ready for sleep.

We were sitting at the dining room table the following morning. Ella had brought breakfast up and we were halfway through eating when Ranger brought up the subject I was hoping to avoid.

"What happened yesterday at the police station?" Ranger asked me.

"You know what happened," I said."I gave them my statement."

"There's something you're not saying. I want to know what it is?"

I did some mental deep breathing, and tried to find the least upsetting way to mention Morelli.

"If I tell you, you aren't going to do anything, right?"

"That depends on what it is," Ranger said.

That wasn't the answer I was hoping for. I was trying to figure out what exactly to tell Ranger and I must have taken too long deciding, because Ranger's voice broke into my thoughts.

"_Babe_."

"Okay," I said."Morelli was the one I talked to when I was at the station."

"His choice?" Ranger asked."Or yours?"

"His," I said."He was ... um ... waiting for me."

Ranger's expression didn't change, but the air suddenly seemed to crackle around him."Why was he waiting for you?"

"He said he wanted to know, beginning to end, what had happened with Harlo."

"And?"

"And what?" I asked him.

"You wouldn't be worried about my reaction unless Morelli did, or said, something while you were with him."

Damn."He might have sort of said that he missed me," I told Ranger."But I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." I figured that if I said it enough times, it might actually become true.

"Do you believe that?"

"Yeah." Maybe.

"What did you do?" Ranger asked me.

"I told him everything that happened at Quaker Bridge. And then I left."

I think Ranger was resisting the urge to bang his head against the table or choke me. I was deliberately being difficult. I've always considered Ranger to be a fair man. And, in my mind, it would be hard for Ranger to do something to Morelli without a legitimate reason. And I wasn't about to give him one.

"Morelli cares about me," I said to Ranger, choosing my words carefully."So it's only natural that he'd be upset that someone tried to kill me. That doesn't mean he wants to get back together with me."

"How do you know he _doesn't _want to get back together with you?"

"I don't ... for sure," I said."And I didn't stay long enough to find out. It wouldn't matter if he did."

"I hope that's true," Ranger said."Because if he keeps this up, I'm going to have to convince him to move on."

I narrowed my eyes at him."I'm not a bone for you guys to fight over."

"Babe," Ranger said,"you're worth fighting over."

"Thank you, I think. But there will be no fighting. I have no intention of getting back with Morelli, so you have nothing to worry about. For now, I'm going to keep my distance from Morelli. And so are you."

The corner's of Ranger's mouth tipped up ever so slightly."Are you telling me what to do?"

"Yes."

"I don't ordinarily let people tell me what to do," Ranger said.

"But you'll make an exception in this case, right?"

"For the time being," Ranger said."Morelli's starting to remind me of a stray puppy. Once you think he's finally gone off and found a new home, the next day he's back on your doorstep. He needs to learn that you're off limits. And I'm the guy to teach him."

"You're overreacting," I said to Ranger."This is why I didn't want to say anything about Morelli in the first place. You start feeling territorial and then you won't listen to anything I say."

"I've listened to everything that you've said, Steph," Ranger said."I just don't agree with it."

"Fine. Can we talk about something else now?"

"Like what?"

"My mother wants to know when you'll be coming over for dinner," I said to Ranger.

Ranger looked like he was trying not to grimace."Maybe we should talk about Morelli some more."

That got a smile out of me."If I didn't know better," I said,"I'd think you were afraid of going to my parents' house."

"Babe," Ranger said,"it's not your parents' house that frightens me. It's your grandmother."

"Grandma's harmless," I said. Well, harmless as long as she isn't behind the wheel of a car, or carrying her .45 long barrel.

"She manages to work in a comment about wanting to see me naked into every conversation."

"You should be used to women picturing you naked by now," I know_ I've _spent a fair amount of my time imaging Ranger naked. Of course, I didn't have to imagine anymore. Ranger's naked body was burned into my brain.

"Not seventy-something-year-old grandmothers."

"A lot you know. They're the worst," I said."If you're that worried, I promise I'll protect you from Grandma."

"There's no protection from you're grandmother. Even God doesn't want that kind of trouble."

I laughed. Grandma Mazur definitely lives her life on her own terms.

"Have you heard anything about Harlo?" I asked Ranger.

"He'll be in court tomorrow," Ranger said."He's proven to be a flight risk so he won't be let out on bail."

I hated to admit it, but I was relieved to hear that. I knew that if he did get out on bail, he would most likely skip town. And probably he wouldn't waste any time coming after me, but there was still a small part of me that was afraid he would.

Ranger looked at me. Serious."If Harlo had been let out," Ranger said to me,"I would have had two men on him at all times. He wouldn't have been able to come anywhere near you."

Having a boyfriend who owns a security firm has it's perks. Sometimes.

"Thanks," I said."I was a little worried there for a second."

"You thought I wouldn't protect you?" Ranger asked.

"That's not it," I said."I just had a slight panic attack at the thought of Harlo being free. I have no doubts that you would protect me. After all, you have men following me around on a normal day."

"Babe, I don't think you've had a normal day since I've known you."

I did an eyeroll. He was right. I was a lingerie buyer before working for Vinnie. And my days as a buyer would be considered boring.Backthen, I would never have had the need for a bodyguard._ Now_ ... bodyguards are the norm.

"Normal is overrated," I said to Ranger.

When we were done cleaning up after breakfast, Ranger went back to his bedroom to get his jacket and gun. He was attaching the gun to his belt when he came back into the kitchen. Ranger shrugged into his jacket, and I followed him down the hall to the front door.

He grabbed the keys for the Turbo and turned to me."Are you staying here today?" He asked me.

"For a little while," I said."I have three other skips, besides Cortiz, that I'd like to catch. Hopefully, I'll get a line on one of them."

"I'll be heading out to check on a couple commercial accounts today so I won't be in the office," Ranger said."You can reach me on my cell. And Tank will be here at Rangeman if you need him."

I stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the nose."I am capable of being on my own for a few hours," I said, smiling."You don't have to schedule the babysitters."

Ranger gave me the smallest of smiles."You don't need babysitters, Babe. You need Army commandos."

"That would be funny if I thought you were joking." I looked at Ranger."You_ were _joking, right?" With Ranger you never knew.

He wrapped his arms around me, and nuzzled my neck."For now," Ranger said.

His lips kissed my ear, my cheek, and found my mouth. The contact sent desire rushing through all parts of my body. The kiss ended and our eyes held.

"If you keep doing that," I said,"you're going to be late again."

Ranger kissed me lightly on the lips before releasing me."It's tempting," Ranger said."But I can't be late today."

"Your loss," I said to him.

"I know. But I'll recoup my losses when I get home."

That sounded promising. Ranger grabbed me, kissed me again, then was gone.

I went back to the kitchen and gathered together the files Connie had given me. I had my phone, an empty apartment, and a full day of bounty-huntering ahead of me. I might as well get started.


	3. Chapter 3

**It's been driving me crazy that I haven't finished this story, but I wasn't going to go back to it until I was sure I'd be able to complete it quickly. So when I had a weekend free I forced myself to sit down and start writing. I have ADAD already finished and there will be three more chapters after this one. Anything familiar belongs to Janet. All mistakes are mine.**

**Chapter 3**

After an hour of useless dialing, I still had nothing except for what was already in their files. Seems like no one wanted to answer their phones today. Or they just didn't want to talk to me specifically. I'm not taking it personally, though. If I was in their shoes, I wouldn't want to talk to me, either. And this is how bounty hunting usually works. Just once I'd like someone to say, _"Oh your looking for John Nobody? He just walked through the door. Let me handcuff him to a chair until you can get here." _Is that to much to ask? Probably. And realistically, nobody but Grandma Mazur would have handcuffs lying around the house unless they worked in some type of law enforcement, too.

I poured myself another cup of coffee and thought about the day I had ahead of me. I know how I _want_ to spend it, curled up on Ranger's couch watching television, pretending that the world didn't exist, but that wouldn't put any money into my dwindling bank account. Looks like I was going to be pretending to be a bounty hunter again today. I'd like to get rid of the _pretending_ part, but I knew that would require a lot of gym time and I wasn't sure I liked my job enough to make that kind of commitment to it. Then again, the Harlo incident showed me that I didn't want to die right now, either. Maybe if I knew some of the things Ranger did, I wouldn't have had to rely on tripping to get out of something like that. That being said, I don't know what magic move I could've done that wouldn't have gotten my head blown off in the process. The way Randy had held me didn't leave much room for error. And I'm the type of person who needs _a lot _of room in the error department.

I blew out a sigh, drained my coffee cup, and put it in the dishwasher. I picked up the files and grabbed my bag and jacket on the way out the door. The skips I was after today weren't too scary. Only Cortiz's brother would qualify and I knew I'd have Ranger with me for that one so I wasn't as worried as I'd normally be. Ranger had one of the guys stop off at my apartment to pick up my gun when they brought my car back from the mall, and I could feel the weight of it in my shoulder bag. I didn't like the thought of having to use it on someone, but just knowing it was there made me feel better today. Stupid Harlo. Denial was much harder to stay in when someone was threatening to splatter your brains all over a mall parking lot. I shook my head to clear what happened from it. He was in jail so there was no point in dwelling on him. I had a job to get done, Ranger to come back to, and that's all I was going to focus on today.

I left Ranger's apartment and took the elevator down to the garage level. My car sat in it's usual spot. Too bad the guys had brought me a CR-V and a little .38 instead of dropping off a credit card with no limit and a Lexus. I started my car and put the files in order of how easy they looked to catch. First up, Jasmine Disisto. Arrested for punching out her boss over a paycheck. I could understand that one. Vinnie had been threatened by me, Connie, and Lula, on numerous occasions for not wanting to shell out what we were owed. But whether her boss deserved it or not wasn't my call. Like Ranger told me in the beginning of my bounty hunting career, you get paid to bring them back to jail. No more, no less. It's not my job to decide if they belonged there.

I drove out of the Rangeman gate and headed to Market Street. And only then did it occur to me that I should've stopped at the control room and told Hal my plans for the day, but that may have led to an armed escort and I didn't think I needed one for these people. Maybe almost getting killed would be enough for one week and everything else from here on in would be a piece of cake. Yeah right, Stephanie, I said to myself, I for one knew that _denial_ and _delusion_ were_ very _close to each other in the dictionary.

It was another sunny day, but clouds that looked like they could bring rain were moving in. Great. Now I had to worry about getting soaked on top of trying to not roll in whatever was littering Market Street today. Since Jasmine no longer had a job at the 'Blow Dry Beauties' salon, I was betting she was home today. And if she was anything like me, she'd be polishing off her second pint of Ben and Jerry's Boston Cream Pie ice cream.

Ten minutes later, I pulled up to Jasmine's house and parked on the other side of the street, one house up. I tucked my pepper spray inside my jacket pocket and slid the cuffs into the waistband of my jeans. And since I didn't have any more room back there for my gun, I decided to leave it in my bag. But after thinking about what Ranger would no doubt say to me, I did leave my bag open so I'd have easy access if I needed it.

I climbed out of my car and crossed the street to Jasmine's house. It was a one-story house painted a hideous dark blue. A color blue somewhere between Smurf skin and old blueberries. I was betting that either the paint was beyond cheap, or the person who'd picked it out had a serious eye condition that affected their sight. I stepped around some doggy doo on my way to the front door and knocked. No answer. Nothing barked. Guess the doody belonged to someone else's dog. I knocked again and a slightly older version of Jasmine opened the door.

"I'm looking for Jasmine," I told the woman."Is she home?"

"She's at the mall. Her friend picked her up about an hour ago," the woman said."I'm her sister Crystal, can I help you?"

"I'm Stephanie Plum. I work for the bonds office that put up the money to get her released," I said."She didn't show up for court so she has to go back to the station and do the whole process all over again."

"I knew something like this was going to happen," Crystal said."I told her to quit working for that bitch boss of hers before she did something."

"Before who did something?" I asked."Jasmine or her boss?"

"Both," Crystal said."They've hated each other from the get go, but Jasmine refused to quit and Maureen liked having someone to torment every day."

"Doesn't sound like a good working environment."

"It's fine for everyone else, just not Jasmine. She happens to look similar to the woman Maureen's husband left her for."

"Oh."

"Yeah," she said."Her attitude doesn't have anything at all to do with Jasmine personally."

"So what exactly happened?" I asked.

"Maureen withheld Jasmine's paycheck. She claimed that Jasmine didn't put in all the hours she was supposed to," Crystal told me."Jasmine disagreed. After a half hour screaming match, Jasmine got fired and Maureen got a free nose job."

"Ouch."

"Of course Maureen pressed charges. I don't believe in fighting," Crystal said,"but I saw first-hand just how much Maureen had made her suffer. It's probably wrong, but I don't blame Jasmine for hitting her. I might have been tempted to myself. Her best friend Janine decided to try cheering her up and took her to the mall for a few hours."

I asked even though I knew what the answer was going to be."Quakerbridge?"

"Yes," Crystal said.

Damn. While I couldn't say that I was terrified of the place, I still wasn't in any hurry to go back there. Not yet. Probably the first time in my life that I was avoiding the mall. Freakin' Harlo. Being nervous to go to one of my favorite places on earth was like having the flu at Disneyland. It just shouldn't happen.

"How come she didn't show up for court?" I asked her.

"Her car broke down last month. She's been bumming rides when she needs to, but I had to work that day," Crystal said."If I didn't show up I would have been fired, too. I just assumed that she got Janine to take her. I wanted to ask her how it went, but I've been so busy I'm lucky if I remember my own name in the morning."

I've had plenty of days like that myself so I wasn't going to judge Crystal for not babysitting her sister. Jasmine was an adult after all.

"When do you think she'll be back?" I asked Crystal.

"Knowing them ... I'd say two hours minimum."

"Okay, I'll come back," I told her."Just let her know that I'll have her in and out as soon as possible. It's better for her if she gets this dealt with soon."

"I'll make sure she's here," Crystal said to me.

"Thanks."

I left the house, keeping a look out for the dooky, and walked back to my car thinking that this may not exactly be having my skip handcuffed waiting for me, but it was pretty darn close. That's if Jasmine is actually here when I get back.

I unlocked the door and slid behind the wheel. Next up, Dewy Daigle. I rolled my eyes at the name. Didn't people stop and think about what it's going to do to their kids when they're saddled with names like that? I wouldn't say that being given a stupid name _excuses_ a person's behavior, but it could probably _explain _it. I picked up Dewy's file to read his address again and my phone rang.

"Babe."

"Hey," I said to Ranger.

"Where are you?" He asked.

"Sitting on Market Street," I told him.

"You're still on the grid so I take that to mean that you aren't_ literally _sittingon Market Street waiting for ride after another car crisis."

"Nope," I said."Car's fine. I found my skip, but her friend took her shopping so she won't be back for a few hours. I'm going to go after FTA number two while I wait."

"Who do you have?"

"Name's Dewy Daigle," I said to Ranger.

"You're kidding, right?" Ranger asked.

"Nope. That's his name."

"What did he get arrested for?"

I looked down at the file still in my hand."Speeding while intoxicated. He also had an open container of alcohol in said vehicle, and a suspended license."

"I'd drink, too, if I was named Dewy," Ranger said.

"No you wouldn't," I told him."You'd do something show-offy and earn yourself a cool nickname because of it. And no one would think of calling you anything but that ever again."

"Babe."

_"_Tell me I'm wrong, _Ranger_," I said, emphasizing his name to make my point."So what have you been up to while I've been gone?"

"Had to check out a break in."

"This early in the day?" I asked. Even after all the crimes and criminals I've been exposed to, I still thought break ins happened in the middle of the night.

"Yes," Ranger said."The only thing missing from the house is a hundred dollars in cash and a handgun."

"Crap," I said.

"You said it, Babe."

"Do they know who stole it?" I asked Ranger."It had to have been someone who knew there was a gun in the house."

"Our clients have an idea and gave some names to the police," Ranger said."Tank just got off the phone, Babe, I've got to get back to work. I'll see you tonight?"

"Yep," I said to him."I may even invite Rex to come along, too."

"I'll have Ella stock extra carrots."

"He'll appreciate that," I said."He'd appreciate it even more if she stocked Pop-Tarts instead."

"Hamsters eat carrots, Steph," Ranger said."Hamsters do not eat Pop-Tarts."

"Mine does."

"Yours would," Ranger said, and disconnected.

"Love you, too," I said into the now dead phone air.

I dropped my phone back into my bag, started my car, and drove to Tasty Pastry. They didn't have Pop-Tarts, but they had plenty of other things to choose from. I parked by the door and was back five minutes later with two Boston Creams. I sat in the parking lot working my way through them, debating whether or not to stop in and see if Lula was at the office. As I took the last bite of my second doughnut, I'd decided against it. Lula would probably just create more problems with Dewy and I did want to pick up at least one skip today. I licked some chocolate off my fingers before wiping them on my jeans and plugging the key in the ignition.

After a fifteen minute drive, I was in the lot of Dewy's apartment building. A building that was a whole hell of a lot nicer than the square block that I called home. Okay, _home_ was a stretch, but it was where Rex and my shoes were so it was as close as I've come to one since I'd moved out of my parents' house. I didn't stay long enough in the house I shared with Dickie to count it. The asshole.

I'd put the pepper spray and cuffs back in my bag before I left Jasmine's place so I now had to do the process all over again. Except this time I added my gun to the arsenal. Sometimes drunks got a little grabby, or a little mean, and I wasn't going to take a chance on getting mauled or hurt by a guy with a name like Dewy. Lucky for me, Dewy lived on the first floor so I wouldn't have to decide between taking the stairs or the elevator. Enclosed places were bad with mean drunks, and stairs were difficult with unconscious ones.

I looked for apartment seven and knocked. A beat later the door opened and I took a step back so I wouldn't get a contact high from Dewy's hundred-proof breath. It wasn't even noon and he smelled like Jack Daniels and Johnny Walker combined.

"Dewy Daigle?" I asked. I knew who he was, I was just trying to gauge how much of his brain was working this morning.

"Yeah," he said to me."Are you sellin' something?"

"No."

He looked me up and down."Too bad," he said."I ain't got much cash here, but you'd have been welcome to it. Any chance of you changing your mind?"

"No!" Guess he was going to be the grabby type of drunk."Bond Enforcement," I said to him.

"Oh fuck," he said."Did I forget to show up again?"

"Yes," I told him."That's why I'm here. My cousin Vinnie doesn't like losing money on people he was nice enough to bail out, so you have to come to the station with me."

"Do I really have to?" Dewy said in a voice that reminded me of my teenage years with my mother.

Maybe Dewy was going to be more_ whiny _than anything else.

"Yes," I said to him."It's kind of the law."

"Oh yeah," he said."I forgot." And he started laughing.

I was praying he wasn't going to wet his pants before we got to the Trenton PD. I slid the cuffs from the front of my jeans and took a step towards him.

"Hey!" He said when he saw them."What're those for?"

I rolled my eyes at him."They're for holding your wrists together."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that, but why're you gonna use them on me?" He asked."Are you one of those kinky women?"

Oh brother.

"No," I said to him."I'm one of those women who'll be using these to secure you while I bring you to the police station instead of just zapping you in the ass with my stun gun." Which was starting to sound like the better idea.

He looked at me with renewed interest."You have one of those? Cool!" Dewy said."I always wanted one. Can I see it?"

"No."

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because you'll probably zap yourself with it and I'll have to drag your drunk behind all the way back to my car."

"I'm not drunk."

Why do all drunk people feel the need to tell you that they aren't drunk?

"Prove it then," I said to Dewy."I bet you can't walk all the way to that CR-V parked over there without falling down."

"Bet I can," he said.

Maybe I wouldn't need the cuffs after all. Dewy walked ahead of me, and I took my eyes off his progress only long enough to lock his apartment door before following him to my car. To Dewy's credit, he only wobbled a bit but didn't actually fall down. He was like a five-foot-six-inch Weeble.

"See!" He said, when he touched my car in victory."I made it! I told you I could do it!"

"Yes, you did," I said, encouragingly."And just for winning the bet, I'm going to give you a free ride in this car all the way to the TPD."

"Wow, I never won anything before," Dewy said to me.

Somehow, that didn't surprise me.

"Well, there's a first time for everything," I told him.

I buckled him into the backseat and slid behind the wheel. I kept an eye on him in the rearview mirror in case he decided to make a break for it since I didn't put the cuffs on him after all, but I didn't need to worry. Dewy passed out five minutes into the drive. As long as he did it _after_ he was inside my car I wasn't going to complain. I could always get someone at the station to haul him out for me.

When I pulled into the PD's lot, I parked as close as I could to the front door and could hear Dewy snoring steadily from the backseat when I turned off the ignition. Guess I was going to need some help here. Dewy was short, but what there was of him was substantial. He was like Lula in a way. He wasn't exactly fat, but he wasdefinitely _solid_.

I opened the back door to make sure that he was really out cold and not faking it. I could tell right away by the little bit of drool that was trickling out of his mouth, and his tipped to the side head, that Dewy was going to be out for a while. I shut the door and headed into the building. Eddie was the first person I saw.

"Oh good," I said to him."Just the person I was looking for."

"What do you need now, Steph?" Gazarra asked.

"What makes you think I need something?"

Eddie didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. The put upon look on his face said it all.

I blew out a breath."Okay," I said to him."I have a drunk FTA snoring and drooling in my car and I want him out of it."

"That's it?" Eddie asked.

"Yup."

"Hey, Matheson!" Eddie called to a young officer who was walking by."Give me a hand."

The three of us left the building and went to collect Dewy. I looked for any sign of vomit or urine when Eddie and Matheson dragged a still unconscious Dewy from the backseat.

"Jeez, Steph," Eddie said."Do you have to get men loaded just to get them into your car nowadays?"

"He did this on his own," I told him."All I had to do was drive him here. He's going down as one of my best captures _ever._"

"For you, maybe," Eddie said to me."I'm gonna have to Lysol myself so I don't get accused of drinking on the job."

"He doesn't seem all that bad of a guy, though," I said to Eddie.

"For one of _your_ skips, he isn't," Eddie said,"but for the general public, he is. At least he wasn't behind the wheel this time."

"Good point."

I followed them back inside and got my body receipt. I said bye to Eddie and was halfway through the door when I heard my name being called. Morelli.

"Hi, Joe," I said, stepping back into the building. It would be better for both of us if we talk in a crowded building. Less chance of him saying something personal and less chance of us having a fight because of it. A win-win in my opinion."I was just leaving."

"I can see that," Joe said."I'm glad that it's not because of me this time. You alone?"

"Yep," I said."I had a couple of people to bring in."

"And Ranger let you out without a thug or two in tow?"

I narrowed my eyes at him."Joe ..."

"I know, I know," he said."Fuck. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to start anything, but I can't seem to stop myself when I get around you."

"Are you trying to say that it's my fault you're a jerk?" I asked, wondering if I was about to get arrested for assaulting an officer. If he said anything else, I'd risk it. Ranger would probably be able to get me out, I thought to myself. Or, at the very least, he'd visit me.

"No," Joe said. He looked down at his feet for a moment, probably counting to ten before speaking again."I just wanted to see how you were holding up."

I felt myself calming down, too. See, crowded buildings were good for something. Conversations with ex-boyfriends, yes. Holiday shopping, not so much.

"I'm okay," I told him."As long as Harlo is still locked up, I'm good."

"Glad to hear it, Cupcake. And don't worry, he isn't getting out anytime soon."

"That makes me feel a lot better," I told Joe."Harlo doesn't seem to like me very much."

Joe grimaced, but didn't say anything.

"Well ... I'd better be going. I have another person to pick up."

"Busy day."

"Busier than some," I said to him,"but my rent will definitely be paid on time this month."

Joe looked like he was going to comment, but thought better of it.

"Maybe I'll see you when you get back," he said.

"Uh-huh. Sure." Not if I could help it.

"Yo, Morelli!" Someone called out.

"I gotta go," Joe said to me.

"Okay," I said, but I was talking to his back. He'd already started walking away, the ass.

Please, please, please, let Morelli be gone when I get back, I begged God. I didn't think God really gave a crap about my personal life, but maybe he wanted a break from important things like war, genocide, and world-wide hunger issues, and wanted a day of dealing with trivial crap like me not wanting to hurt Joe, and not wanting Ranger to hurt Joe, because of something he said. And probably the only way to keep the peace between us is if we weren't near each other.

When Joe and I were together, we couldn't go more than two days without arguing. I sometimes wondered how our relationship lasted as long as it had. Not wanting to admit that you've wasted years on something that was obviously not going to work may have had something to do with it. And we did love each other, even if we didn't alwayslikeeach other very much. With Ranger it was different. We love _and_ like each other at the same time. And the amazing thing is that we seem to like each other_ more _the longer we were together. Which is pretty much the opposite of every relationship I'd ever been in.

I left the station and drove back to Jasmine's house. There was another car in the driveway and I was hoping that meant that Jasmine was home. I got out of the CR-V and knocked on their front door again. Crystal answered.

"Oh hi," she said to me."I was just telling Jasmine about you. Hey, Jas! Get your butt over here!" She yelled over her shoulder."The woman I told you about is back!"

Three seconds later, Jasmine came to the door. She was about an inch taller than me, had darker hair, and was pretty in an all natural kind of way.

"How long is this going to take?" She asked me.

Okay, I thought to myself, she apparently wasn't big on small talk. Guess Jasmine and I weren't destined to become_ 'besties_' anytime soon.

"Half an hour?" I said to her. If I phrased it as a question I couldn't be blamed if it took longer than that, could I?

"Can my sister follow us there?" She asked me.

"Yeah. That way you'll have a ride back as soon as you're done."

"Fine," she said."Let's go."

"What's going on?" Jasmine's friend Janine asked.

"Jasmine's got something to take care of," Crystal told her."I'm going to go with her. We shouldn't be long. If you leave before we get back don't forget to lock up."

"Oh, okay."

Crystal came out with us, got behind the wheel of a beat up Buick, and waited while I got Jasmine settled in the backseat.

An hour after I left, I was back with Trenton's finest. I took Jasmine in and Eddie was almost right where I left him. No Morelli.

"He caught a murder on Stark," Eddie said, when he noticed me scanning the room.

I let out a breath and watched as the guy who'd helped me earlier took Jasmine away.

"He's not giving you any trouble is he?" Eddie asked.

"Morelli?" I said to him."Not really, but you know how Joe is. He gets something stuck in his head and he has trouble seeing past it. I don't want the idea of us getting back together to be one of them."

"So things are going good with Manoso?" Eddie asked.

"Yes."

"I thought so," Eddie said."The way he was holding you when you got away from Harlo looked pretty damn serious. If Ranger'd been willing to let go of you we may have had a situation on our hands. I was glad that we had armed police officers between him and Harlo."

"Harlo should be, too," I said to Eddie.

"I still don't know how you manage to find trouble even if it didn't directly involve you in the first place."

"Some people can play the piano," I said."Some people can write stories. And some people can attract a boatload of crackpots on a daily basis."

"I don't know," Eddie said,"with you, Steph, it may be two boatloads of crackpots."

"Thanks a lot, Eddie. Aren't you supposed to be actually doing something around here? My tax dollars don't seem to be hard at work here."

"You mean _you_ pay taxes?" Eddie said.

"_Yes_, I pay taxes," I told him,"but if I'm paying for law officials to harass innocent citizens, then I may not next year."

"The IRS will love that. And since when can you be considered_ innocent_?"

"Very funny," I said to him."Now if you'll excuse me, I have a receipt to pick up and a hamster to see."

"Rex is still alive?" Eddie asked.

I glared at him."Of course, he's still alive. Even_ I _can take care of a hamster."

"I know you can, Steph, but you've had him _forever_," Eddie said."I thought hamsters only live for a couple of years."

"Rex and I made a deal when I brought him home," I told Eddie."I'd give him good snacks as long as he didn't die on me."

"Guess it's working."

"It'd better continue to work, too," I said. I didn't want to think about losing Rex. It'd been just the two of us for a long time before Morelli and Ranger entered the picture.

I stopped at the desk, got my proof of capture paper, and went back to my car. I was going to stop in and see Connie before heading back to Rangeman, but I figured I caught two skips, the rain that had held off all day had started, and I, so far, haven't been threatened, so I was going to quit for the day while I could still consider it a successful one. All I wanted to do was pick up Rex and spend the night with Ranger.

I drove through town and parked in the lot of my building. I took the elevator up to my apartment and let myself in.

"Hi, Rex," I said, dropping my bag onto the counter."We're sleeping at Rangeman tonight." I didn't see any movement coming from the can so I took that as a sign that he was okay with the idea.

I checked my phone messages and email while I was already here, since tomorrow looked like it was going to be another busy day. I didn't need to pack anything since I still had some clothes at Ranger's, so after I shut the computer down I hiked my bag onto my shoulder and picked up Rex's cage. I was glad that he'd still be asleep on the way to Ranger's because I didn't know how I'd explain the idea of rain to him.

It was still relatively early, and I'd started wondering as I drove back to Rangeman how Ranger would feel about going to my parents' house for dinner if he was through for the day, too. I'd much rather spend the night cuddled up next to him on the couch, or wrapped in Ranger's arms in his bedroom, but we could still do those things when we got back. I kept thinking about Eddie asking how things were between Ranger and I. I didn't want anyone to have to question it.

I drove down Haywood and noticed that all Ranger's vehicles were accounted for. I picked up my shoulder bag and Rex, closed the car door with my hip, and hit the seven button with my elbow. I stepped off the elevator and just as I was starting to wonder if I could unlock the door without putting Rex down, it opened for me.

"You beat me back," I said to Ranger.

"Got everything done," Ranger said."How about you?"

"I caught two of my skips," I told him."I figure the other two could wait a day."

I moved past him, walked to the kitchen, and set Rex down on the counter. Still no movement. Nothing. I had a moment of fear that Eddie asking if Rex was still alive had somehow killed him, but once I crouched down so that I was eye level with his cage, I saw the shavings move in his soup can. He was probably laughing at me. He wouldn't be the first.

Ranger had followed me into the kitchen and was watching me with one eyebrow raised. Probably picking up on my mental panic attack.

"Don't ask?" I said to him.

"I have tomorrow afternoon free," Ranger said."If you want to take care of Cortiz then."

"Sure," I said to him."That will give me the whole morning to catch Macary."

"Are you going to need help with him?" Ranger asked me.

"I don't think so."

"If there is_ any _question, wait until I get back and we'll pick up both of them."

"I will," I told him."I'm not in any hurry to have a gun pointed at me again this week."

"This week, Babe?"

"Well, I don't want to have one pointed at me ever again, but somehow I don't think that's an option for me."

"It could be," Ranger said.

"Yeah, I know," I said to him."Work out, run faster, be able to point my gun in the vicinity of the person trying to kill me ..."

"It does cut down on problems," Ranger said.

"To some degree," I told him."But you guys do all that stuff and _you_ still get weapons pulled on you."

"But how many injuries do my men receive verses the ones the skips get?"

"No need to brag," I said to him.

"It's not bragging when it's true, Babe."

"Spoken like the one whose bragging."

Ranger looked like he was thinking about smiling. He pulled me to him and kissed the top of my head. I leaned into his chest and wrapped my arms around him.

"Maybe if I just stick real close to you, your skills will transfer onto me."

"You can stay as close as you want to me, Steph," Ranger said."I don't mind. In fact, I'd enjoy it, but I don't think that will help your skip chasing."

"I didn't think so," I told him. I took a deep breath before sealing my fate."Umm ... since we're both here, and it's not six o'clock yet, what do you think about having dinner at my parents' house tonight?"

"Babe, you know I'd do anything for you, but that's asking a lot."

"I know it is," I said to him,"but I know you're a guy who can handle it. I just thought that since my mother has made a point of inviting you over, and attending a family dinner would show that we're really a couple ..."

"Is this about Morelli again?" Ranger asked.

"Maybe a little," I said.

"Did he do something at the police station?"

"No. We just talked for a second," I said to him."You know, the how are you doing after almost killed again conversation. But Eddie asked about us when I went back the second time."

"And?"

"He said that we looked serious in the mall parking lot, but I don't want anyone to assume that you're a fling to me, or that I'm only a fun distraction to you until someone better comes along."

Ranger's body tensed."You don't believe that's what you are to me, do you?"

"No. And I don't want anyone else to, either."

"And having dinner with your family will make believers out of everyone?"

"No," I said, honestly,"but it'll quiet the grapevine down a bit."

"I thought you said two dinners with your parents had you engaged in the eyes of the Burg," Ranger said.

Crap."Umm ... I may have said something like that."

"And that's what you want? To be engaged?"

"Not exactly," I told him, not wanting Ranger to think that I was pushing him into anything. I didn't think I was ready for marriage anymore than he was.

"You can't live your life for other people, Steph."

"I know," I said."And I'm not." And I was mostly telling the truth. If I had listened completely to my mother and buckled under the Burg pressure, I'd be married to Morelli and probably pregnant with my second child by now. I had to suppress a shudder at the thought."I just hate when people don't take me seriously. And it pisses me off that they don't think that what we have together is real."

Ranger looked at me for a long moment. I hope he wasn't wondering what the hell he'd been thinking to get involved with me.

"We can leave now if you want," Ranger said, finally.

"Thank you," I said, and kissed his cheek.

"This is just the beginning for us, Babe. And your family is going to be part of it."

"Maybe you should wait until after dinner to say that," I said to him with a smile."You wouldn't be the only guy my family scared off."

"I think I'll be okay, Steph," Ranger said."It would take more than dinner to keep me away from you. Morelli couldn't even accomplish it."

"Much to his annoyance," I said to him."Just don't smile too much, or flex around Grandma, or she may have a stroke over the mashed potatoes."

"Wouldn't want that," Ranger said to me.

He leaned close and gave me a quick kiss. A little taste of what was sure to come later. "Let's go, Babe," Ranger said, when he pulled back,"before I come to my senses."

I grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the door.

"Let's go," I repeated,"before_ I _come to_ mine_."


	4. Chapter 4

**I wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has left guest reviews for this story. I'm posting this chapter a little early because I'm hoping to get a new one-shot out this week as well. All characters belong Janet.**

**Chapter 4**

We took the elevator down to the garage level and Ranger pointed his control at the Turbo, unlocking it for me. I moved to the passenger seat, not even bothering to ask if I could drive, even by the off chance Ranger said yes, I knew I needed the ten minute drive to ask myself repeatedly what the hell I'd been thinking. And to pray that my family wouldn't embarrass me or Ranger. I don't think Ranger gets embarrassed, but it couldn't hurt to throw him into my prayer, too. Maybe I should think about going back to church again. I probably wouldn't _go_, but I should get back to at least _thinking_ about going.

Ranger parked in my parents' drive sooner than I would have liked. Well, Stephanie, I said to myself, wasn't this _your_ brilliant idea in the first place? Yes it was, but that doesn't mean I didn't want to kick my own ass now that we were here. Apparently Stupid Stephanie was in charge today.

"Ready, Babe?" Ranger asked me.

"As I'll ever be," I said, and pushed my door open.

Ranger took my hand as we walked up the sidewalk to their little front porch. Grandma had the door open before I could even reach for the handle. She stood in the doorway wearing a pale blue track suit and some complicated looking sneakers that had to have cost her a good chunk of her social security check.

"I thought I heard a car drive up," Grandma Mazur said to us.

Yeah right, I thought. She probably knew the second Ranger's Porsche turned into the Burg.

"And you brought Ranger, too. It's my lucky day," Grandma said."But if you would have let me know sooner that he was coming, I'd have changed into something a little sexier."

Oh brother. I wonder if anyone else had to worry about their grandmother hitting on their boyfriend. I looked sideways at Ranger and took a second to process that. Ranger, Man of Mystery, all around badass, and walking sex toy, was _my _boyfriend! Maybe it was _my_ lucky day instead of Grandma's.

"Mrs. Mazur." Ranger said to Grandma, trying to limit the amount of testosterone that his body naturally emitted. She was probably the only person on earth who wasn't worried about where Ranger would ship her if she manhandled him."You're looking beautiful today."

And that was all it took to turn my seventy-something hormonal grandmother into a smitten school girl.

"Oh, aren't you the one," she said to Ranger."Come in, come in." She opened the door wider to allow Ranger through. I think I was an afterthought at that point. Guess my Harlo disaster had run it's course. Or it could be that Ranger's mere presence trumped everything else. I'm betting it was the latter.

"Helen!" Grandma yelled towards the kitchen."Stephanie's here! And she brought Ranger!"

My mother came out a second later, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel."I don't believe it," my mother said to me."I didn't expect you tonight. I thought you would try to avoid dinner until next week."

If I was at all smart, I would have.

"We would have come last night, Mrs. Plum," Ranger said, smoothly,"but I had to work and I told Stephanie I'd like to come with her the next time she came here for dinner."

I cut my eyes to him. Damn, he was good! He got me off the hook and made my mother almost dissolve into a happy puddle at his feet. I swear if there wasn't a statue somewhere made in Ranger's honor, I was going to have one erected for him myself.

"Please, call me Helen," my mother said.

Huh? They're on a first name basis now? Maybe I stepped into an alternate universe when I cleared the front door.

"If I would have known you were coming with Stephanie, I would have made something special," my mother said to him.

That was about as close to flirting as my mother could get. I'd have to get him out quick if she started talking to him about cooking temperatures.

"I'm sure whatever you've made will be delicious," Ranger said.

I rolled my eyes at them and my mother, of course, caught me.

"Stephanie, how many times have I told you to stop doing that?"

"Recently?" I asked her."Or when I was growing up?"

"Don't you get smart with me young lady."

Ranger smiled at me and released my hand to wrap his arm around my shoulders. Guess even Ranger's charm couldn't blind her to my faults. Not that I really expected it to, but stranger things have happened. Just look at my life.

"Your father will be back shortly," my mother said to me."He had to take Wallace Doyle home from the lodge."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll stay for a game while he's there," Grandma said.

My mother shot her a look that, as far as I could tell, was only reserved for Grandma Mazur and me.

"Don't give me that look," Grandma said to her."I'm not the one who married him. If you took after me more maybe you could have landed a man like Ranger here." And she winked at Ranger.

I leaned close to Ranger."We could probably sneak out now," I whispered to him.

"You wanted to come here tonight, Babe," Ranger said back,"and we're staying put until after dinner."

"Since when do you listen to me?" I asked him."I make dumb decisions all the time, this being one of them. And I've had a very trying week, my brain clearly isn't working properly."

"Your brain is working just fine," Ranger said."And wasn't your objective tonight to stake some sort of claim on me? Are you willing to walk out of here without doing that?"

"Crap."

"Stephanie, that isn't how you were raised to speak in front of company," my mother said.

"Ranger's not company," Grandma said."He's one holiday meal away from being part of the family."

"See," I said to Ranger,"mission accomplished. As long as we come back for Thanksgiving we're good."

Ranger smiled at me.

"Mother of God," I heard my mother whisper.

I didn't have to wonder who inspired that reverent whisper. I still caught myself saying the same thing, and using the same exact tone, when Ranger gave me the full-on smile. The women in my family are all easy apparently.

"What's wrong, Helen?" Grandma asked."You look flushed. Is it the menopause again?"

"How many times do I have to tell you people," my mother said through clenched teeth,"that I am _not ... _going ... through ... menopause."

"Of course, you're not," Grandma said, rolling her eyes.

Can you tell who_ I _take after in this family?

"Then how do you explain these mood swings?" Grandma asked her.

"You're right," I said to Ranger,"we shouldn't leave. Not only would it be rude, but I'm suddenly having more fun than I thought I would."

"You're an evil woman, Babe."

"What mood swings?" My mother asked."There are no mood swings. And if I did have them, who would blame me? I have a daughter who almost got killed on national television, a mother who acts like a hormone driven twenty-year-old, and another daughter who gets pregnant before getting herself married first."

"Oh, put a sock in it, Helen," Grandma said."You need to loosen up a little for goodness sakes. You should be happy that you have two great daughters, three beautiful granddaughters, and a husband who doesn't drink and still comes home to you every night."

"Come on, let's get out of the line of fire," I said to Ranger, pulling him towards the living room and down onto the couch next to me."Grandma must be right, you_ are _a part of our family or they wouldn't be doing this in front of you."

"I'm honored," Ranger said.

"Oh, too bad. Looks like they're winding down," I told him."My mother's coloring is mostly back to normal."

"I _am_ happy that my family is healthy and all living close to me for the first time in years," my mother said to Grandma. I think she forgot that Ranger and I were still here.

"Then you should lay off the girls," Grandma said.

"It's okay, Grandma," I said to her."I'm fine. And Valerie doesn't seem unhappy about how her life turned out."

"She does seem to be happy with Albert," my mother said.

"Yup," I told her. I didn't know how she could be but, then again, I've know almost from birth that Valerie and I were_ very _different.

"And Stephanie has done pretty good for herself since she dumped that horse's patoot," Grandma said, defending me once again. Did I mention that Grandma Mazur is my favorite member of our family? Could be because Grandma and I are the same as much as Valerie and I were different.

"Does your grandmother mean Dickie or Morelli?" Ranger asked.

"Morelli may have been an unreasonable jerk at times," I said to him,"but he was nowhere near as bad as Dickie was to me. There aren't enough swear words to describe Dickie."

"I could add a few," Ranger said.

"Me, too," Grandma offered.

The front door opened and my father came in.

"Frank, Stephanie and Ranger came for dinner," my mother told him,"isn't that nice?"

My father wasn't big on talking, he grunted a reply.

"Hi, Dad," I said to him.

"Saw the car out front," he said to us.

"Mr. Plum," Ranger said."Nice to see you again."

My father shook his hand before turning to me.

"The guys at the lodge are still talking about you," my dad said to me.

"It _was_ one of my more stand-out moments," I said to him."Probably didn't top the funeral home fire, though."

"Babe."

I looked over at him."Too soon?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Sorry," I said."I don't mean to joke about it, but it's easier to get over it that way."

"I know it is, Steph," Ranger said,"but some of us have trouble laughing at someone holding a gun to your head."

I could see my mother crossing herself out of the corner of my eye.

"You did fake that stumble, didn't you?" Grandma asked."To get yourself free?"

"Yep, sure," I said."That's exactly what I did."

"Thought so. I know that's what I would have done," Grandma said."I've been watching some of them self-defense videos on youtube, but I never get a chance to try out any of the moves I've learned. I'm thinking of taking a couple of classes at the gym so I can practice and watch all them young hotties walking around in tight shorts. Except I gotta wait until my next check comes in so I can buy some sexy workout clothes. I wouldn't want to be shown up by a younger model while I'm there."

"Jesus Christ," my father said, and turned the television on.

"Frank, dinner will be ready soon," my mother said to him,"don't get too comfortable."

My dad mumbled something under his breath and turned the volume up.

Dinner was uneventful after that. My mother had made a roast chicken, homemade biscuits, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, and chocolate pudding for dessert. My family stuck to safe topics during the meal so we wouldn't have a repeat of the fight from earlier. My mother asked about Ranger's business. My Grandma Mazur asked us questions about Harlo, and about much time we thought he'd likely get in jail when he was sentenced. I couldn't say for sure, but I was guessing that it was going to be many, many, years. Lula was right. It was stupid to pull a gun on someone when you had cameras pointed at you. It was much harder to plead innocent that way. And my father spent the entire meal staring at his dinner plate. It would take an actual death in the family for my father to pay attention to more than his food at the dinner table. Having dessert, and having Ranger with me while I ate it, made the whole evening worth it.

My dad did manage to make small talk with Ranger while I helped my mother and grandmother clean up. I had a feeling their conversation was mostly about sports and cars. My dead ones and Ranger's foreign ones. I picked up our coats and went to rescue them. They were both men of few words, but for different reasons. Ranger didn't like to give anything away; thoughts, emotions, information. And my dad just didn't feel the need to comment on anything that didn't directly involve him. Which always made me wonder how he and my mother got along, since she had something to say, and an opinion, about _everything_. Maybe that was the secret to a successful marriage for them. She said everything so he didn't have to.

I handed Ranger's jacket to him."The kitchen is once again spotless," I told him,"so we're free to go."

Ranger stood and shrugged into his jacket. I slipped mine on and walked over to my father's chair.

"Bye, Dad," I said to him. I kissed his cheek and then headed to the door with Ranger.

My mother was already standing there with a bagful of what I hoped was chocolate pudding. I could always have a good dinner at Rangeman, but dessert was harder to come by unless I felt like making a run to Tasty Pastry or Giovichinni's.

Ranger was close behind me and I had to force myself to not run out the door. I had no reason to go back to my apartment since Rex was already at Ranger's. And Ranger had pretty much asked if I was staying with him so I knew I was in for a good night. There were no stalkers after me. And now that we came over for dinner, I wouldn't have any guilt-laced phone calls from my mother to avoid. I had only two skips left to think about, and I'd have Ranger for backup for the worst one, so tonight I could concentrate completely on being with Ranger. That wouldn't be too hard, Ranger was distracting enough on his own.

"Here," my mother said."I packed you a bag. I added what was left of the chocolate pudding. I made two batches of it and you know how your father won't eat the same thing two days in a row."

More like my mother didn't want to serve the same thing two days in a row. I think serving leftover dessert was a sin in the eyes of every Burg woman over fifty.

"Thanks, Mom," I said to her."Dinner was great as usual."

"It would have been even better if your grandmother and I hadn't caused a scene."

"I'd hardly call _that _a scene," I told her."And don't worry, Ranger has seen worse."

"Still ... I'm sorry if we made you at all uncomfortable, Ranger," my mother said to him."I don't know what came over us."

"Helen, would you relax already," Grandma Mazur said.

"Grandma."

"Well, she should chill out," Grandma said."You're practically living with Ranger. He should be used to this sort of thing by now."

"We're not living together," I said, when my mother looked over at me.

Ranger leaned close."Are you having fun_ now_, Babe?" He whispered.

I tried elbowing him, but he took a step back before I made contact.

"Stephanie, what on earth are you doing?" My mother asked.

"Nothing, Mom." I could almost hear Ranger laughing behind me.

"He was nice enough to come to dinner with you," she said,"the least you can do is be nice to him."

"Believe me, Mom," I said,"I _am_ being nice to him."

"I know I'd be _real _nice to him," Grandma said.

"Behave, Grandma," I told her."He's taken."

"Took you long enough. That Morelli was nice to look at, but there wasn't much to sink your teeth into, if you get what I'm saying."

I was horribly afraid that I did.

"Anyone can see that Ranger has _plenty_ of meat on him to sink into."

"Maybe we shouldn't be talking about this," I told her."He embarrasses easily."

"Babe."

"I don't believe that," Grandma said."I bet he's used to people talking about his goods."

"Not in front of him." Lula, Connie, and I had done a lot of our own talking about his goods in the past, but Ranger hadn't been around to hear us.

"I don't mind, Steph," Ranger said, being more tolerant than I would be in his shoes.

But I suppose things are different when people are saying _nice_ things about you instead of listing everything wrong with you.

"We'd better get going," I told them."We both have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Oh my God," my mother said,"you're going after another criminal, aren't you?"

"Yep," I said to her."Two. But Ranger will be helping me with one of them."

"That does make me feel better," my mother said.

"If you need backup for the other one," Grandma said,"I'm not doing anything tomorrow. I can ride shotgun."

"Thanks for the offer," I told her,"but I'll be fine."

I didn't want to think of what disaster could come from us teaming up again. We'd already found out that the funeral home couldn't survive us. I thought Lula was an iffy partner most of the time, and Grandma was three times worse than Lula. It was safer for the Burg, and probably everyone in Trenton, if Grandma and I stuck to just having dinner together.

"You know where to find me if you change your mind."

"I do," I assured her.

My mother handed me the bag and Ranger followed me out the door to freedom. Maybe it was just me that felt that way. Ranger seemed to be enjoying himself. _I _was the only one sweating during dinner.

Ranger's arm went around me as we walked to his Porsche. And I could feel two sets of eyes boring into my back as Ranger opened my door. He stood watching me buckle myself in. I looked up at him with my eyebrows raised since Ranger knew that even _I _could handle a seatbelt on my own. I watched with interest as he gave his head a slight shake before smiling at me. I didn't know what was going through his mind just then but it didn't appear to be bad, so I smiled in return. Ranger's mouth kicked up a little more at the corners and he leaned just far enough into the car to cup my face in his hand, brushing my bottom lip with his thumb before pressing a light kiss to my lips. Yep, he must have been thinking about something pretty good, I thought. He shut the door, walked around the back of the Turbo, and angled behind the wheel. And for some reason I prayed,_ again_, that Ranger's body had blocked most of what had just happened. It seemed like it was too personal a moment between us to be discussed and dissected over coffeecake tomorrow morning.

I did, however, hope that my family seeing how close Ranger and I were would go a long way to curbing the Morelli and I getting back together rumor that was still circulating. I had no ill-feelings towards Joe, well not many anyway, but I didn't want to go back to what we had. Even if Ranger dumped me tomorrow, I knew I couldn't do that to any of us again. I may not have everything in my life sorted out, but I do know what I don't want. And Joe's vision of our future was definitely one of them. Not to mention, the thought of Ranger and I having to resort to stolen make-out sessions and not-so-platonic sleep overs, wasn't something I could even let enter my mind. I now had a pretty big glimpse into the life I have always wanted and I didn't want anybody to mess it up. Me included.

Ranger angled behind the wheel and after one final wave to my mother and grandmother, who were still standing in the doorway, Ranger pulled out of the driveway and drove us back to his apartment.

"So did tonight go as you'd planned?" Ranger asked me.

"Actually, it went better than I had hoped," I told him."We established ourselves as a couple, at least in Grandma Mazur's eyes."

"She has great taste," Ranger said, with a hint of a smile on his lips.

"So do I," I said.

"You didn't for a while."

"Who's fault was that?" I asked him, feeling a little pissy. I would have left Joe in the dust if Ranger gave me the slightest hope of wanting to be with me long term.

"Both of ours," Ranger said.

And my anger died away. He was right. I couldn't blame him for my crappy relationship with Morelli. I could have ended it at anytime, and I chose not to. I couldn't lay that on him.

"Yeah," I said to him."I know. It took a few tries, but at least we finally got it right."

Ranger let go of the wheel to pick up my hand and kiss the back of it.

"Yes we did, Babe," he said, keeping possession of my hand.

I studied his profile as it was lit occasionally by a passing street light."It feels like a lifetime ago, but it really wasn't that long ago that we were both trying to keep each other at arm's length."

Ranger stopped at a light and looked over at me."It _wasn't _all that long ago, Steph." The light changed and Ranger's eyes went back to the road.

"Have I ever said that I'm sorry for all the times I led you on?" I asked him, quietly.

Ranger flicked his eyes to me."You didn't lead me on, Babe."

"But I slept in _your_ apartment, in _your_ bed, wore_ your _clothes, drove_ your _cars, and then went home to Morelli," I said to him."What would you call it?"

It was dark in the car now but I thought I saw Ranger flinch. Too late did I remember what Ranger said in my apartment during the time we were trying to catch Scrog, that if I slept with Morelli while both of them were staying with me, Ranger'd have to kill him. Shit. Good going Stephanie. Now, without thinking about it first, you opened your big fat mouth and said something to hurt him. Things were going so good and I had to wreck it. My MO for the last thirty years.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that," I said, wanting more than anything to go back five minutes in time. I tried to pull my hand back, but Ranger wouldn't let me.

"You didn't have an alternative at the time," Ranger said to me.

"Yeah, I did," I told him. What the hell, I might as well just get it all out now."I should have let Morelli go and stayed single instead of trying to force a relationship that everyone knew wasn't going to end well for either of us."

"Steph, none of us are perfect."

"Hah!" Ranger_ was _perfect. Except that he didn't understand how important doughnuts are to the world, he doesn't talk a lot, and the morning after we sealed the DeChooch deal was pretty crappy, but aside from that, Ranger _was_ perfect.

Ranger ignored me."Even _I'm_ not perfect," he said."We've all made mistakes, but as long as we don't repeat them it makes no sense to keep beating ourselves up over what we can't change."

"That's it?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Oookay, then." If he was willing to let me off the hook, then I was going to let him.

He drove down Haywood and pulled into the Rangeman lot. I remember when I discovered this building, trying to figure out how to get into it undetected. Of course, I later found out that it was impossible, and that Ranger had known all along I was there. Now I was used to the guys who worked here, and could even have a conversation with some of them. The cameras were a little easier to forget about. And Ella and I have started working our way to a friendship that had nothing to do with the job. Going from my crappy apartment with only Rex for company, to a luxurious apartment in a building with around the clock activity_ was _an adjustment, but a good one.

Ranger parked and I leaned against his arm as we walked side by side to the elevator until he took the hint and put it around me. This was a side of me that I'd just recently discovered I had. I've always thought that I needed space in a relationship. Every time Joe talked about marriage, or moving in together, I found a way to get out of giving him an answer. And a way to get out of his house. And I'd always managed to pick a fight not long after so he wouldn't bring the subject up again. I'd pretty much decided that I was just one of those women who was destined to be unhappy, because I'd either be forced to live a life I didn't want, since no man would put up with a woman who didn't love him enough to want to live with him, or I was going to be alone. Until Ranger, I never knew there was a third choice. When we were both busy during the day doing our jobs, I looked forward to seeing him at night. And not just for the sex, either. Although that was reason enough to want to see him. I thought nothing of staying over at his apartment. I could bring clothes and Rex over without hyperventilating. There were no thoughts of how I could get away from his apartment or him. And breaking things off with Ranger was _not _an option in my mind. He has become an essential part of me. Losing him would be like losing a part of my own body. And admitting that to myself didn't scare me as much as it should have. When I was near Ranger, I couldn't seem to get close enough to him. Something I knew he appreciated. I should have listened to my neck tingle a long time ago, and taken it as the sign it was, that Ranger was the guy for me. Not Morelli. I did get a few tingles with Joe, too, but he usually had to work for it.

The elevator dinged and Ranger ushered me into it. I waited while he unlocked the door and then went straight to the kitchen to see if Rex had moved. I knew it was stupid, but I wanted to make sure that he was still okay. Rex was alive and kicking but was apparently a little crazy, because he took advantage of the empty apartment to get in a workout. Jeez, even my freakin' hamster was influenced by Ranger. If Rex started turning down pizza crusts, I may have to separate the two of them.

"At least one of you likes to work out," Ranger said, sliding his arms around me from behind.

"I know," I said,"clearly Rex and I are going to have to have a talk. I'm not about to get gained up on here."

"Guess it's a good thing that I like you the way you are," Ranger said.

I know he was joking with me, but I also knew that he meant it. Ranger was the only person besides Grandma Mazur that seemed to like me the way I was and didn't expect me to change for them. Well, Ranger wanted me to get better at what I do, which unfortunately included the stupid gym. But that was more about wanting me safe while I was trying to capture someone, than about Ranger being embarrassed by how I accomplished it. He actually seemed amused by my mishaps, which was vastly different from the screaming matches I'd have with Joe because of them.

I turned in Ranger's arms and looked up at him."I like you, too."

"I noticed, Babe," Ranger said.

I rolled my eyes, but I didn't move away from him."You notice_ too _much," I said to him.

"Not when it comes to you, Steph."

"I'd argue about that, but I know it won't do any good." I let him go to put the bag of leftovers that I'd dropped onto the counter when I checked on Rex into the refrigerator. I shut the door and turned back to him."Time for a shower and bed."

"You're reading my mind, Babe," Ranger said, taking a step towards me.

Ranger's eyes had darkened, and I suddenly felt like I was caught in a hunter's crosshairs. I started inching closer to the bedroom and Ranger was right behind me. Just when he was about to grab me, I shrieked and took off. He caught me before I could get the bathroom door closed. I had no intention of showering alone, but it was fun to tease Ranger once in a while. God knows, he's teased me enough over the years.

I backed up when he shut the door and advanced on me. Damn, I was trapped. My heart sped up at the thought. What had started out as play, soon turned to a sexy game of chase that had me completely turned on. I was ready for whatever Ranger had in mind.

"Going somewhere, Babe?" Ranger asked me in a voice that made my nipples stand at attention, saluting him in their own special way.

"Not anymore," I said, barely recognizing my own voice."I seem to have run out of places to go."

Ranger picked me up and sat me on the vanity. Guess I did have at least one more place to go. He started the shower and, while the water was heating to the perfect temperature, came back to me. Ranger untied my sneakers and removed them and my socks, dropping them onto the floor. My breath caught just from waiting to see what he was going to do next. He decided to remove his shirt and give me ample skin to ogle as my eyes followed every move that his mocha muscles made.

He stepped closer to me and I opened my legs to him. He stepped between them and leaned in to kiss me. I made a embarrassingly happy noise in the back of my throat and slid my hands between us, tracing every dent, ridge, and valley, I could reach. Ranger's tongue stroked mine and just as a warm sensation started spreading through my body, he pulled back. I blinked my eyes a few times to get him back into focus and saw that he was watching me with a look that bordered on cocky. But before I could form any words, Ranger stripped off my shirt. Goosebumps broke out along my skin despite the steam that was starting to fill the bathroom. He gave my body a calculated look, almost like he was mapping out exactly what he was going to do to it. I swear my bra almost unfastened itself after being subjected to that look. Ranger's eyes moved from my chest back to my face. He took in my slightly swollen lips, heavy-lidded eyes, and flushed skin, with a smile. I ran my fingertips down his washboard abs and stopped at his belt. The smile vanished and the hunter was back. I curled my fingers into his waistband and pulled him even tighter against me. I loved feeling just how much he wanted me, even if it was only through his clothes. He successfully distracted me from his belt by releasing my bra. He tossed it to the floor and his hands went to my thighs, lifting me off the vanity. My breasts pressed into the well-toned muscles of Ranger's chest and the hot skin covering it. I moaned at just how good it felt. Then I was back on my feet and he was pulling my remaining clothes down my legs, placing strategic kisses to all my hot spots as he did. Ranger's arms came back around me and I was put down inside his shower under the steady stream of water. Ranger shed his clothes and joined me. I turned towards him and my brain no longer registered the water, temperature, or anything else surrounding us. He kissed me while the water continued to pour down over us.

We took turns with Ranger's Bulgari. Who knew that just sliding your hands over every inch of Ranger's body could in itself bring a woman to orgasm. I knew the potential was there, he was after all built, ripped, and I didn't even need to bring up how well he measured in the _hung_ department, but I never had the opportunity to test it out. Ranger and I have showered together before, but Ranger had been doing things to me in between the sudsing. That was probably why I didn't give in to the temptation more than once until I was sure that I'd be able to have Ranger shower time on a regular basis. When we were properly rinsed off, we had to repeat the process a half hour later after our mouths, and other parts of our bodies, decided to join in on the fun.

When Ranger finally turned the water off, I was so relaxed that he had to keep an arm around me so I wouldn't follow the water right down the drain. He then meticulously dried off my body off with one of his super soft towels. This had been one of the sexiest nights I'd ever had. After Ranger and I had started spending more time together when he was showing me the bounty hunting ropes, I knew he found me attractive. Then he made sure I knew that he wanted me. And not long after that, he told me he loved me. Tonight he managed to combine all of those. He liked what he saw, and he wanted to show me just how much he did but in a way that proved that it wasn't just sex to him. I felt both desirable and cherished. Something Joe had never made me feel even after all the years we'd been together.

Stop it, Stephanie, I told myself, watching Ranger toss the the towel onto the ever growing pile of laundry on the floor. There's no point in comparing Morelli to Ranger. Even though they had a few things in common, they were complete opposites. And I was just starting to figure out just _how_ opposite they actually were. And besides, it wasn't fair to Ranger or Joe. Mostly Joe, since he always seemed to come up short. And everyday it was becoming more and more clear to me that Morelli was my past, while Ranger was definitely my future.

Ranger went to grab a towel for himself, but I took it away from him before he had a chance to use it. I took my time sliding the towel across his skin. All the water droplets that had settled on his bulging biceps, chiseled stomach, and muscular legs, were thoroughly wiped away before I threw the towel aside. You'd think I'd be embarrassed or self-conscious about being naked in front of someone like this, but the love I could see in Ranger's eyes when l looked into them made my usual shyness disappear.

When Ranger pulled me flat against him, I all but melted into his body. His arms went around my waist and he walked us both to his bedroom. He pulled the blanket back from the bed with one arm and released me only long enough to slip underneath it. Ranger slid in after me, and settled the blanket around us. I didn't think being cold was a problem I was going to have tonight. I turned on my side to face him and was instantly in his arms. Ranger was hard again and I found that I was eager to help him do something about it. I used to think that sex two or three times a week was all I could manage. When Joe kept telling me how much his 'boys' missed me, I remember thinking that they could miss me for a week or so before I was ready to reacquaint myself with them. But now all Ranger had to do was give me a certain look, or drop his voice to the tone that made my toes curl, and I was suddenly tingly all over. And I mean _all_ over. Maybe it was just the power of Batman himself. Like the more I was exposed to him, the more potent he became. Then I was done thinking and comparing. Ranger kissed me and my toes _did_ curl, my breath caught, and morning with the skips I've yet to catch and Ranger's busy schedule, couldn't be far enough away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Anything familiar belongs to Janet. The mistakes are mine. Warning for language.**

**Chapter 5**

Thursday morning I woke up later than usual. Ranger had left for the gym, but I couldn't force myself to get out of bed until the sun was at least somewhat visible in the sky. Staying with Ranger was exciting, stress-revealing, and mind-blowing, but it was never restful. Ranger still hadn't figured out that if you were going to spend the majority of the night doing things other than sleep, then you needed to make up the time somewhere. Of course, superheroes didn't need sleep. Us mortals are the only ones who require it.

I stretched out all of my limbs, making sure they were still functioning. I didn't know how Ranger could work out first thing in the morning after a night like the one we'd just had. Maybe I was doing something wrong, because I didn't think my legs could support me for an hour on the treadmill. Heck, walking to the bathroom was looking impossible right now. And yet Ranger could still put in a full hour-long, if not more, workout downstairs. Stupid superior DNA, I thought to myself. After every last finger and toe had been wiggled, I decided that maybe I _could_ make it to the bathroom and get myself dressed after all.

I walked into the kitchen a half hour later. Ranger wasn't there, but Ella had been and left breakfast for us on the counter. It was nice to not have to scrounge around a barren refrigerator and empty cabinets looking for something remotely food-like to eat. I didn't like the thought that the extra time I spend here doubled Ella's already heavy workload, though, but no amount of telling her or Ranger that I could do some of the things around here would stop them from trying to take care of me.

I gave Rex fresh water and a full dish of hamster crunchies, deciding to wait for Ranger to eat breakfast. He has a lot to do today before he even got to me and my skip, and I now look forward to these quiet moments of just the two of us before he had to leave and the day really started. Ranger would probably say that we could have more time if I joined him in the gym, but even if I wanted to, which I _don't,_ there is always a Rangeman or two using the equipment. The guys use the gym whenever they have the chance, sometimes before their shifts started and sometimes after. Some of the men even came in on their days off just to use the top-of-the-line gear. That was mind-boggling to me. Only someone who worked for Ranger would waste twenty-four hours free from dealers, murderers, and strung out addicts, to lift weights and run twenty miles to nowhere. I wonder if brain-washing is part of the Rangeman training program. If it was, I sure as heck have never been exposed to it. Even knowing that I'd see Ranger sweaty, and maybe even shirtless, wasn't enough to get me to face-off against a treadmill. I'd probably be more tempted if I didn't get to see Ranger naked and slicked with sweat in the comfort of his bedroom almost every night. So it was the _gym_ that held less appeal, not _Ranger._

I heard the front door open and close and Ranger walked into the kitchen a second later. Apparently I got to see him like that in the kitchen, too. I didn't have to leave the apartment at all.

"What are you smiling about, Babe?" Ranger asked.

I let my eyes travel from his slightly ruffled hair, down his perfect chest, all the way to his low slung black sweat pants and t-shirt that he was now holding instead of wearing. Yep, breakfast is served.

"Steph, stop," Ranger said to me."I don't have enough time to do what you're thinking about this morning."

"Sorry," I said to him."I'll keep my thoughts to myself. Oh, that's right, I _was_ keeping them to myself. You're the one sticking his nose into my brain."

"Babe, you just looked at me like I was a day-old birthday cake."

Guess he couldn't read me as well as he thought he could. He was definitely a _freshly-baked _cake, thirty minutes out of the oven and newly frosted. No _day-old _for him.

"Steph ..."

"Okay, now I'm done," I told him."Jeez, most men would be happy that their girlfriends found them attractive."

"I_ am _happy about that," Ranger said,"but my schedule is full this morning and seeing that look on your face is going to distract me from it."

"What's on the agenda besides Cortiz?" I asked.

"Meeting, paperwork, another meeting, and then an instillation on Broad."

"You should have slept for another hour instead of getting up to work out."

"Working out helps me get my mind focused for the day," Ranger said.

I slowly shook my head back and forth."Sometimes I really think we're speaking different languages," I said to him.

"I'm going to take a shower before breakfast," Ranger said, moving towards the bedroom."You can start without me if you want."

"No, I'll wait for you."

Ranger smiled over his shoulder at me, then was gone.

I sat down at the little table and poured myself a cup of coffee. I knew Ranger would be back in under fifteen minutes. He was pretty much wash and go. You'd think someone as gorgeous as Ranger would take longer than me in the bathroom, but he didn't. He was physical perfection and he didn't need to add anything to it.

I was pouring a second cup when Ranger came back into the kitchen. He sat down next to me and I filled his cup for him.

"I should be back in the building by two at the latest," Ranger told me.

"Okay. I'm going to go after skip number three while you're busy, and probably stop in and see Connie," I told him,"to make sure she doesn't have anyone else for me." I should just avoid the office in case she does have someone new, but there was a chance I could catch them while I was already out with Ranger. I liked earning a paycheck, but I didn't enjoy chasing down a hundred people at once. I usually had a day off in between them.

We ate breakfast while Ranger gave me some facts about Cortiz's life.

"His father took off before Quentin was born," Ranger said."Mother's an addict. Heroin. Marcus has been looking after Quentin since Marcus was fifteen, so he's very protective of him. There is a chance you'll be able to pick up Quentin without Marcus around, but I'd rather be prepared in case you can't."

"I know, Ranger," I told him."And I appreciate the help." I wasn't stupid enough to say that I wasn't apprehensive. I still had to take a deep breath before saying Quakerbridge. Going after a potentially violent skip had me thanking God that my boyfriend-I really had to come up with a better word for Ranger-was a bodyguard, or at least_ my _bodyguard."I'm not going to turn you down no matter how much I'd like to be able to do this on my own."

"You _can _do this on your own, Babe, but I'm not going to let you," Ranger said, his voice serious."I almost lost you once this week, I don't want it to happen again."

"Ditto," I said.

I don't know how they do it. I couldn't even let myself relive the Scrog shooting because I couldn't bear the thought of Ranger being hurt. And I've put Ranger and Joe through much worse. I mean, Ranger walked into Spiro's house and thought my dead body had been stuffed inside a cabinet. And Morelli had to listen to shots being fired over the phone while I was talking to him when Eddie got shot by a group of gang members I'd been chasing. It could have easily been me instead of Eddie, and he knew it. So I could understand Ranger wanting to step in when he could. I felt like I owed it to him to put his mind at ease once in a while after everything he's had to endure. I knew being with me wasn't exactly without it's stresses, but Ranger didn't seem to notice, or even care about, that. He still likes being around me, something Joe debated more than once during our years together.

"Earth to, Babe."

I looked up at him."Huh?"

"What were you thinking about?" He asked.

"Honestly?" I asked him. He didn't even bother nodding. When_ didn't _Ranger want the truth? "I was thinking about how much I've put you through."

"Stephanie, it's been worth whatever hell we've been through to be together right now," Ranger said."There are a few things I would like to have handled differently, but I don't regret many things."

"You don't regret any of it?" I asked.

"Let's just say that there are some things I'd redo."

"Like our night together after you brought in DeChooch?" I asked him.

"No, Babe," he said."There isn't one part of that night I'd redo."

"It _was_ pretty perfect."

"The morning after could have used some work," Ranger said.

"I agree, but since I've had time to think about it, it probably helped us get here so maybe it was for the best," I told him."I don't think I was ready back then to take on everything that came with a serious relationship. Even with you."

"Now who's Henry Higgins?" Ranger asked.

"You," I said."And that isn't ever going to change."

Ranger leaned forward and I met him halfway. Our lips touched, and while I'll admit that I still have a lot to learn about Ranger and about relationships, I was sure this is what love _should_ feel like. My disastrous marriage to Dickie and my dysfunctional relationship with Joe didn't come close to what I feel for, or with, Ranger. Ranger and I worked well together. We could share the same space without any boundaries. And the biggest thing for me was that we could actually have a conversation. Both Ranger and I have strong wills, but we could make exceptions for something important to each other. He didn't demand that I walk away from my job with Vinnie and hide in a closet for the rest of my life when something scary happened. Ranger was willing to work with me so we both got our needs met. In and out of the bedroom. When my lips were thoroughly kissed, Ranger pulled back and tucked a curl behind my ear.

We finished breakfast and took our time over the last of our coffee, enjoying the last few minutes we had left together. When the cups were empty we put them, along with the dishes, into the dishwasher and I walked Ranger to the door.

"Be careful today," he said to me.

"I will."

"And remember what I said, if you feel at all uncomfortable bail on Macary and we'll get him later."

"Okay, but only if I really need to," I told him."I'm not going to dump my skips on you on top of everything else you have to get done."

"This has nothing to do with your FTA, Steph," Ranger said."It has everything to do with _you_."

"I know. And that's why I'm going to call you if I need to."

"Thank you." He kissed me one more time and opened the door."Do you want me to call you before I leave Broad Street?"

"No," I told him."I should be here by then, but on the off chance I'm not I'll let you know. You stay safe, too."

"I will, Babe. I'll see you this afternoon."

I pressed another kiss to his mouth. Did I mention that Ranger is addictive? He gave me a small smile in return and took the stairs down to five.

It was only a little after eight o'clock. Normally I would think that was too early to go after someone. Well, too early for _me _to go after someone, but since I was already awake now was as good of a time as any.

I stuck both Macary and Cortiz's files into my shoulder bag, grabbed my keys, and took the elevator down to my car. No stairs for me. I figure if you spent a ton of money to put an elevator inside your building, you should at least use the darn thing.

Rob Macary lived in Hamilton Township, but had family in Bordentown so I had at least two places to start looking.

I headed across town and drove down Macary's street. He lived in a shotgun style house with dark green shingles, no yard, and a ripped screen door. Not a place I'd want to step into, never mind live in. I was hoping that Rob was just a down on his luck type of guy who may have had an off week. It happens. But considering he was arrested for violating a restraining order _and_ criminal mischief, both involving his ex-girlfriend, it was unlikely. He didn't look like a real winner, but I was going to try to stay positive here, at least until my ass made contact with the concrete. I pulled all my bounty hunting stuff out from my bag. My gun was loaded, my stun gun was fully charged, and my pepper spray hadn't been used yet. I was as ready as I was ever going to be.

I walked to the front door and rang the door bell. I didn't hear a ring, a buzz, or anything else. Probably didn't work. I opened the screen door, praying it didn't come off it's hinges in my hand, and gave the front door four knocks. Nothing again. I knocked louder, and a minute later it was opened by an irritated, possibly hungover, Macary who was in desperate need of some hot water and a large bar of soap. Guess I knew why his girlfriend broke things off. Be fair, Stephanie, I told myself. He could just be in this state because of the break up. Some guys couldn't cope with being the one dumped.

"Yeah?" Macary said.

"Bond enforcement," I told him.

"And?"

"You missed your court date."

"So?"

"So ... that means you have to come with me ."

"Who says?" He asked.

"I do," I told him. So today's captures weren't going to go as well as they had yesterday. I was expecting this. I didn't normally have two good days in a row. When it came to skip chasing, I was lucky if I had two easy captures a month.

"Get lost, bitch," he said, and started to close the door.

I put my foot in the doorway, stopping it from moving any further. I was glad that I'd put on my Cat boots this morning. It wouldn't have been effective with my sneakers for anything other than getting my foot broken.

"Listen, it's not a big deal," I told Macary."You'll go to the station with me, Vinnie will bond you out again and you'll come back here and never have to talk to me again." Unless he didn't show up for his new date, then he'd get the pleasure of my company another time.

"No."

"Oh for crying out loud," I said in frustration,"stop being such a baby!"

This apparently was the wrong thing to say. Especially to a guy who looked like he already had something to prove. Macary as a whole wasn't real attractive. Too large nose. Extremely pale looking skin, probably from spending nights in bars and days sleeping off what he drank there. His hair was thinning, and he had a wiry frame without a lot of muscle. Yup, Stephanie, definitely a dumb move, I thought as he opened the door and took an angry step towards me.

"What did you call me?" He bit out.

"Umm ..."

"I'm not a baby," he said in a way that made me think he had an older brother or sister growing up."The only reason I'm not going with you is because I ... don't ... want ... to ..." He punctuated each of those words with a finger poke to my chest.

"Hey!" I said."Hands to yourself!"

"Shut up!" He said to me."You're the dumb bitch bothering _me._ I told you to leave and you didn't, so I'm guessing that you just don't want to."

As I took a step away from him, he took one closer. I went immediately to my first line of defense, talk him to death while trying to calm him down.

"Threatening me isn't going to work," I said, trying to reason with him."I'm not scared of you. And I'm also not leaving, so you might as well get your stuff and come with me. You don't want to get yourself into any more trouble by doing _anything_ to me. Trust me."

He'd just end up in jail again. That is if Ranger didn't decide to teach him a lesson first. I hope it wouldn't come to that. I didn't want Ranger to start thinking that I couldn't hold my own against the low-lifes and dickheads I came into contact with throughout the course of a day.

"You _should _be scared," Macary said."When I'm done with you, you'll know better than to act like you got bigger balls than me."

Oh, great. Just what I needed. A pissing contest. And here I am without the proper equipment for one.

I'd already been threatened once this week by someone much crazier than Macary. I wasn't about to be a victim again.

"Speaking of balls," I said, using my best bitch face on him,"if you want to keep _yours_, you may want to stop acting like an asshole for a minute."

"No one talks to me like that," he said.

"Maybe someone should have so you'd have better manners by now." I don't know what the hell got into me. The voice in my head kept telling me to shut up, but given the fact that I was still taunting him, I apparently wasn't listening to it. I didn't like being under Harlo's control at the mall and I guess I was overcompensating for the feeling now.

"Fucking cunt!" He roared. And went right for my throat. No grabbing my arm or trying to punch me. Nope. He went in for the kill, so to speak. Lucky for me, and my lungs, that just as his thumbs pressed into my neck my mind flashed back to something I saw on TV. I put my hands together in praying position (kind of fitting, don't you think?) and I jammed them upwards in between his arms toward the insides of his elbows. The unexpected blow caused his arms to open, and I quickly stepped back and kicked him in his decidedly smaller nuts. It may be my go-to move, but I did like to switch up how I got to use it every now and then. Who knew letting Ranger be in charge of the TV remote once in a while would come in so handy. I'm sure that if Ranger were here right now, he'd be proud, a little smug, and most likely pissed as hell, so I wasn't sure I'd mention this part of the apprehension to him.

While Macary was still getting his breath back, I grabbed my cuffs and snapped them on. He grunted when I did. I might have been a little rougher than I needed to be, and clicked the cuffs tighter than I usually put them, but that was his own damn fault. I told him to stop being a dick and he didn't listen so he's getting what he deserves in my opinion. I helped Rob duckwalk to my car and secured him in the backseat. I may not always know what I'm doing ahead of time, but I can think on my feet which I'm finding to be a better weapon with this job than my gun.

I took off to the police station and by the time I all but dragged Rob into the building, he was getting his bearings back and was glaring at the side of my head since I wouldn't look at the prick.

"Looks like you've got another satisfied customer," Carl said, when he saw us.

"Not again," I said."I just went through this crap with Eddie yesterday."

"Yeah, we heard all about your scratch and sniff skip," Big Dog said.

"As you can see, this one is sober, clothed, and almost clean," I said to them.

"He also looks like he'd like to separate your head from your body," Carl noted.

"He already tried that and it didn't work," I said, before I snapped my mouth shut, remembering that I wasn't going to mention anything. Ranger had eyes and ears everywhere. And in the police station most of all.

Carl's eyes narrowed."What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," I said."Can one of you take this moron off my hands now?"

"Someone's a little hormonal today," Carl said to me.

"Not just today," Big Dog added.

"You know, you guys aren't making police officers seem very trustworthy or dependable," I told them."And can't I ever just get my receipt and go without being hassled?"

"Why the rush?" Carl asked."You got a big date or something?"

"Since she's with Manoso, I'd say yes," Big Dog said."It's too bad, too. We could have had something really beautiful between us."

I rolled my eyes at him."So you're crazy on top of being irritating now?"

"We're just joking, Steph," Carl said."You know we love you."

"Prove it by locking this idiot up," I told him.

"Bitch," Macary said, giving me a death glare.

"Sticks and stones," I said back.

"I guess there's no love lost between you two," Carl said.

"Nope," I said to him. And I got to watch Big Dog take Macary's ass away. Three down and one to go.

I got the receipt I needed for Macary so I could get my capture money, said goodbye to Carl, and drove to the bonds office. Connie was behind her desk and Lula was modeling a new outfit in front of it.

"What's shakin', Steph?" Lula asked."I was just showing Connie what I found at the mall yesterday.

Guess Lula wasn't having the same problem I was with the place.

"It's definitely_ you_," I told her.

"That's what I was just tellin' Connie," Lula said."It's like they knew I'd be comin' in."

She was wearing a bright orange tube-style dress that was not exactly traffic cone orange, but close enough to make my eyes hurt, and five-inch strappy gold stilettos. The dress had tiny rhinestone straps that looked like they were there solely for decoration and not up to the challenge of holding in Lula. The top of the dress was in danger of spilling it's current occupants with one unexpected movement on Lula's part.

"Well, you look good," I told her, and handed all three body receipts to Connie.

"Somebody's been busy," she said to me.

"You picked up all these people without callin' me?" Lula asked, hands on hips, which unfortunately thrust her already precariously covered chest forward."What's up with that? I thought we were partners."

I kept my eyes on Connie in case Lula's boobs made a run for it."We are," I told her,"but I didn't think I needed backup for these people."

"Hunh."

"If it makes you feel any better, Ranger wanted me to call Hal," I told her, so she wouldn't feel like it was just her I didn't want to take, which it mostly was."I didn't ask him, either."

"Hal?" Lula said."He don't know _nothin' _about catchin' skips."

"He knows more than the three of us combined," I told her.

"Does he know who makes the best doughnuts?" Lula asked."Which drive-thrus are the least crowded around lunch time? Or which convenience stores sell nachos?"

"Probably not."

"Then he's not the partner for you," she said."We got a good thing goin' here."

Yeah, we're both emotionally challenged, though I'm making progress, and use food to cope with our feelings. And both Lula and I will probably die of heart failure just from the sheer amount of stress-eating we've done together.

"There could never be a substitute for you," I told her. And I meant it. You couldn't find another_ Lula_. The world couldn't handle two of her."And the next skip I get after Cortiz we'll be out catching him together."

"We'd better be," Lula said."Just because you're spending more time at Rangeman, doesn't mean I can't storm the gates and drag your skinny ass out of it."

"You won't have to," I told her. The control room would probably let her try just for kicks."Speaking of skips ..."

"None for you," Connie said."It's feast or famine around here. Today it's famine. Once you get Cortiz you'll get a lit bit of a breather."

That was the good thing, and the bad thing, about my job. I could have a few days off some weeks and then be on the lookout 24-7. The job itself was anything but boring. My mother couldn't figure out why I continue to do skip tracing and that was a large part of it. I couldn't do the same thing every day. I wouldn't call myself adventurous, but schedules and routines freak me out. The thought of being stuck inside a factory on a line with a bunch of other people checking tampons for strings had me looking for my gun and extra bullets.

"That's good to hear, but right now I still have one guy left," I told them after Connie gave me the money for the three people I did catch."It should go smoothly, though. Ranger is coming with me."

"How come?" Lula asked.

"He's picked up the skips' brother in the past."

"I remember him now," Connie said."I bet Ranger's afraid Marcus will be there when you go after Quentin."

"That, and Ranger knows where to look for both of them so I'll have an edge."

"Girl, you got Batman, you don't need a bigger edge than that."

I'd normally agree with her, but I tend to lower the good odds in any situation.

"I'll see you guys later," I told them and went back to my car.

It was just after noon and I didn't think Ranger would be back at Rangeman yet, so I stopped off at Pino's for a meatball sub. I'd need my strength for a potentially tough capture. At least that's the excuse I plan on giving Ranger when he asks. Lucky for me, I didn't run into Joe or any of the other guys from the station. I've had my fill of them for the next four hours or so until I hopefully dragged Cortiz in.

I paid for my take-out and drove back to Rangeman. I parked my car next to Ranger's truck and ran into Bobby who was heading out.

"Ranger's on his way back," he told me."Hal just spoke to him."

"Was he checking up on me?" I asked.

"Only a little," Bobby said."He did have something to ask Hal that didn't involve your whereabouts. But you can't really blame him for worrying about you."

"Yeah, I know. If our positions were reversed, I'd want to keep tabs on him, too."

Bobby laughed."It's good that you can keep a level head about it," he said to me."Most women would run by now."

"Rest assured, Bobby," I told him,"I don't scare easily."

"Glad to hear it. Ranger needs someone who can handle all the shit in his life."

"I can," I told him.

"We know," Bobby said."Ever since the 'redecorating' job we did together, I knew Ranger was going to be in trouble."

"Gee, thanks," I said to him.

"I meant the _good _kind of trouble, Steph."

"Sure you did."

He smiled and looked at something over my shoulder. I had a feeling the car I heard pulling into the lot behind us belonged to Ranger. I turned my head and watched him drive up and park. Bobby was watching me watch Ranger.

"It's good to know that he isn't in this alone," Bobby said, quietly.

"Trust me," I said to him,"he isn't."

He studied me for a moment and gave me a nod."Gotta go, you two have fun," Bobby said. And walked to one of the fleet vehicles.

I let out a breath. I hadn't felt like that since Mrs. Scarvelo, my high school algebra teacher, announced that we were about to have a pop quiz. I hope I passed whatever test Bobby had given me.

Ranger angled out from behind the wheel of his Turbo. He walked over to where I was, wrapped an arm around my waist, and kissed me. Just when I was really getting into it, he put a couple inches between us. Guess it really wasn't a good idea to make out on tape.

"Pino's?" Ranger asked me, looking at my hand.

"Yep," I said."If I would have known you were going to be back here so soon, I would have brought you something."

"No need," Ranger said."Ella left sandwiches on seven."

We took the elevator up to his apartment to eat a quick lunch before we had to leave again. I dumped my jacket on the sideboard before heading to the kitchen with my food. I could feel Ranger's eyes zero in on me when I started unwrapping my sub. I knew he viewed my food choice as Satan's snack, but staring me down while I ate it seemed a little much, even for him.

"Jeez, Ranger," I said to break the uncomfortable silence,"it's only a meatball sub. It's not even that bad for me. It may have more carbs than you'd approve of, but it's got a lot of protein and the sauce is made out of tomatoes. And everyone knows tomatoes are_ healthy_."

He wasn't smiling."What happened today?" He asked me.

"I caught Macary," I told him."I thought you would have heard about that."

"I know about you catching him," Ranger said."What I don't know is why you have a mark on your neck that wasn't there this morning?"

Crap. Macary must have somehow scratched me with his fingernail. I couldn't think of anything else that would have caused it. Oh,_ double crap_! You couldn't get rabies from a scratch, could you?

I walked into the bathroom and checked myself out in the mirror. After a few seconds of looking, I saw a tiny reddish line where Macary probably grazed me either when he grabbed my neck, or when I got away from him. It didn't break the skin, just the capillaries underneath it, so I didn't think I needed to worry about potential diseases. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if Ranger hadn't pointed it out to me.

"Babe, I know what every inch of your body looks like," Ranger said, coming into the room and standing behind me."And I know immediately when something isn't right with it."

My eyes shot to his in the mirror."I don't know if I want to hear that, Ranger," I told him.

"Don't worry, Steph, I love every part of your body," he told me.

"Okay, _that _I don't mind hearing."

"But I don't love the thought of anyone but me doing something to it," Ranger said.

Parts of the aforementioned body started sizzling, thinking of what he'd done to it last night.

He very gently traced the spot on my neck with his fingertip. He couldn't do more than that, since the damage was under the skin, but knowing that he wanted to was beyond sweet, and made my stomach feel squishy knowing that he cared so much about me. He moved his hand and kissed the spot below my ear before stepping back.

"Are you going to tell me what happened now?" Ranger asked, but I knew it wasn't really a question.

"Sure, but I want my sub before it gets any colder," I told him.

Ranger stepped to the side and let me pass so I could walk back to the kitchen. I took a bite of my food and looked at him.

"Aren't you going to eat?" I asked, when he made no move towards the fridge.

"I will as soon as you tell me what went on today."

I took another bite and finished chewing while I figured out how to word almost getting strangled so it wouldn't sound so bad.

Ranger was studying me."Forget it, Babe. Tell me _all _of it."

I blew out a breath and hoped for the best."Okay, Macary didn't want to come with me," I told Ranger,"and when I pushed the issue he kind of grabbed my throat." The hair on my arms stood up at the scary look on Ranger's face, and I quickly worked to defuse his anger."But I didn't act the way he thought I would, and I was able to get free and help his balls migrate all the way up _his_ throat after I was released. He was still swearing at me when he was taken away to holding."

I saw the corners of Ranger's mouth twitch and took it as a sign that he was calmer now. I exhaled forcefully. Ranger pissed off was frightening even if you weren't the cause of it.

"Proud of you, Babe," he said.

"I was pretty awesome," I told him. His smile grew.

I finished my sub and watched as Ranger got a sandwich and two bottles of water out of the refrigerator. He handed a water to me.

"Thanks," I told him.

"You're okay?" Ranger asked me.

"Yup," I told him."I even made his ride to the station as uncomfortable as possible."

"That's my girl," Ranger said.

Those three words alone seemed to combine _'I love you_' and _'I'm proud of you', _and I wouldn't mind hearing _those_ words, and being _his_ girl, for the next sixty or seventy years. And I'm betting I'll still feel the same way about him even after all that time has passed.

"Are you still up for catching Cortiz?" Ranger asked when he finished his sandwich.

"Yeah." I said."I'm more reluctant to go to the police station than to go after Quentin."

Ranger's eyes cut to me."Morelli?"

"No. Eddie, Carl, and Big Dog," I told him."Apparently the state of New Jersey is paying them to annoy the crap out of me now every time I walk in there."

"Want me to do something about it?" Ranger asked.

I took a moment to enjoy thinking about what would happen to them if Ranger corrected their behavior, but that was as far as I was willing to go.

I blew out a sigh."No. They're just being the idiots that they are," I said to Ranger."They don't mean anything by it. And I really don't want them hurt because of it."

Ranger grinned."What makes you think I'd hurt them?" Ranger asked.

"They can't keep their mouths shut to save their lives," I told him."They'd say something, you'd get mad, and I'd feel guilty for the rest of my life for causing their deaths."

Ranger's smile grew."Babe."

"They may be assholes once in a while, but they _are_ my friends. Well, most of the time."

Ranger downed the rest of his water and stood.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yep," I said."If we catch him today there's a real good chance my weekend will be free."

"And what exactly are your plans for this weekend?" Ranger asked.

I gave his black-clad body a thorough once-over before smiling up at him, feeling confident enough to try out a little Ranger-style flirting.

"My plans involve handcuffs, you, and that king-sized bed over there," I said, using what I considered my_ 'sexy' _voice. And I left him standing in the kitchen.


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, this is it. It took me almost a year to get back to it and now I'm sorry to see ADAD end, but I think I left Ranger and Stephanie in a good place here until we see them again in 'Gotcha'. I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for the reviews, alerts, and for not completely giving up on this story. And also for coming back to it when I did start updating again. I hope the new chapters were worth waiting for. Anything familiar belongs to Janet.**

**Chapter 6**

Ranger caught up to me at the front door.

"I will get even, Babe," he warned me.

"I'm counting on it."

He locked up behind us and his hand went automatically to my hip as we headed to the elevator. We stepped out of it a few seconds later and ran into Tank in the garage. Looks like he was leaving, too. I was starting to think that Tank worked almost as much as Ranger did.

"You going after Cortiz's brother?" Tank asked Ranger.

"Yes."

"You need another gun hand?"

"Hey," I said to him."I've got a gun on me."

Tank looked like he was struggling not to say something.

"Babe, you hate your gun almost as much as you hate using it."

"Yeah, so?" I said to him."The point is ... I can use it if I have to."

"Okay ... if you're sure you don't need me," Tank said,"I'm gonna take off."

"Something I need to know about?" Ranger asked him.

Ranger was in charge of everything involving Rangeman, but he did let Tank handle the crap that he didn't want to deal with personally. Ranger's a smart businessman that way.

"No," Tank told him."Client wants one of us to explain step-by-step how his new system works."

"Craigson?" Ranger asked.

"Yeah. He's a real pain in my ass," Tank said."You owe me."

"I gave you a job," Ranger said to him."I don't_ owe _you anything."

Tank surprised me by grinning at Ranger before walking away to the employee side of the garage while Ranger and I made our way over to where his Cayenne was parked.

"That was a little harsh, don't you think?" I asked Ranger.

"You have to keep your employees in line, Babe."

I narrowed my eyes at him. I had a rant all set to go about how these people were more than just employees, but Ranger smiled at me before I could really let him have it.

"It's okay, Steph. Tank knew I was kidding," Ranger said, brushing at the frown line that had suddenly appeared near my mouth."You don't live through what Tank and I have together without getting to know each other well. We don't sit around talking about who had what work done while eating cookies like you and Mary Lou are known to do, but Tank and I are close. Which is why he gave me a cocky grin instead of trying to kick my ass. He can't do it, but he didn't even try because he knew I was just messing with him."

I got myself settled into the Cayenne before I spoke again."You are a very strange man," I told him."You're not suppose to threaten your friends. But, then again, Tank went along with it, so maybe_ all _men are strange."

Ranger started the car and turned to me."Didn't you just say something about _your_ friends down at the station?" Ranger asked.

Crap. He had me there.

"Can't you be one of those men who never listen to their girlfriends?" I didn't want Ranger to ignore me, but it would be nice if he didn't have the memory of an elephant when it comes to what I say and do. Especially when it could be used against me.

"Where are we going to look for Quentin first?" I asked him, after Ranger pulled onto Haywood.

"We'll take a drive down Stark to see if he's buying anything today," Ranger said.

"He makes deals right there on the street?" I asked."Isn't that a little risky?"

"Quentin isn't as seasoned as some of the guys we usually catch. He only buys stuff when he wants it. And a street corner is a good way of getting a small amount of something quickly."

"And that means there's a chance Marcus won't be with him today," I said.

"Yes," Ranger said."Which will make things easier for us."

Ranger turned down Stark ten minutes later. There was some activity on the street, less than what I usually see when I come here with Lula. Ranger doesn't draw crazies to him like Lula and I do. Two hookers were talking in front of one of the many dilapidated buildings that take up the majority of this neighborhood. A small group of gangster wannabes were standing around taking turns sipping something from a brown paper bag instead of being inside a classroom somewhere. Stark Street always made me want to go home and immediately take a shower. There was such a feeling of hopelessness encompassing the place, and the people who were forced to call it home. I still like to think that no one wants to live this way, selling their souls for a temporary high or small wad of cash. Not for the first time have I thought that Lula was lucky to have survived this place.

As Ranger passed by the gym Benito had used, two men standing by the open door of it looked at the Cayenne and quickly disappeared back into the building, not wanting to chance Ranger coming after them. It's probably hard to decide who you would rather piss off, Ranger if they didn't cough up the information he wanted from you, or the dealer, pimp, or gang leader, who would be looking for you the second you did. Not a situation I envied.

Ranger stopped next to a man who was walking on the side of the street coming in our direction. He was probably in his mid-twenties. His clothes weren't expensive, but they were clean. And his baby face seemed oddly out of place on this particular street where rapists, hollow-eyed addicts, and hired killers, were the norm. Ranger powered his window down, but didn't pull out his Glock, so I figured he knew the guy.

"Javier," Ranger said to the guy.

"Fuck man, I didn't do nothin'."

"Didn't say you did."

"What do you want then?" Javier asked."People find out I'm talkin' to you without you cuffin' me and I'm screwed."

"Then I suggest you tell me what I want to know quickly," Ranger told him.

Javier looked around to see if anyone was watching before leaning into Ranger's window. His eyes ran over my face and what he could see of my body that wasn't hidden by my jacket.

"Nice piece," he told Ranger.

Ranger gave Javier an open-handed smack to the side of his head. Hard."Show some respect. You don't speak that way to a lady."

"Oh, sorry," Javier said."She yours?"

"Yes," Ranger said."Remember that."

Javier looked me over again, but without the smarmyness this time.

"I'll pass it on," he said. And I had a feeling I was just offered another layer of protection for when I had to come back here alone."Who're you lookin' for?"

"Quentin Cortiz," Ranger told him.

"Quentin? Yeah, he was down here this morning scoring some shit from Morsi."

"He back home?" Ranger asked.

"I can't say for sure," Javier said,"but considering what Morsi is said to be mixin', Cortiz should be feelin' real good by now."

"What about Marcus? He been around?"

I saw the look of disgust cross Javier's face. Guess Marcus isn't a real popular guy.

"That prick? Thought he got himself locked up again."

"No."

Javier shrugged."Haven't seen him," he said to Ranger.

"Thanks for the information, Javier," Ranger said, and started to raise his window back up.

"Wait. That's it? What do I get for helping you?"

"You _get _me being nice and not busting you for what you have on you right now?"

He took a step away from the Cayenne and Ranger continued down the street. I could see in the mirror that Javier was standing where we left him, watching us drive away.

"First Tank," I said to Ranger,"and now this guy. You seem to be cranky this afternoon."

"_Cranky_, Babe?"

"Yes,_ cranky_," I told him.

Ranger smiled at me."I needed information and I got it, Steph. Seems like cranky works."

"_I_ would have at least bought him a coffee or something."

"I know you would have, Babe," Ranger said."And that's why I love you, because you're nothing like me."

"I could be," I told him. With a lot of guidance, training, and the Justice League as partners.

"I wouldn't want you to be, Steph," Ranger said quietly."I was attracted to _you_ for a reason, and only a small percentage of that was based on how you looked."

"I knew it!" I said to him."It was my charming personality, witty banter, and my sense of humor that won you over, right?"

Ranger didn't disagree with me. I could see that the people he surrounds himself with don't exactly act like I do. And maybe Ranger was missing out by not having someone like me around. I never would have considered that before now. Ranger seemed like he had all his crap together, but maybe he was thinking, just like I'd been, that his life was missing something, too.

Ranger reached over and squeezed my thigh, like he knew what I was thinking. Since he probably did, I finished my thoughts out loud.

"And now you've got me, Lula, and Grandma Mazur."

"One out of three isn't bad," Ranger said, putting his hand back on the wheel.

"Grandma will be happy to hear it."

"Your grandmother and Lula are fine in_ very _small doses," he told me,"but you're the one that I can't seem to stay away from."

"Do you want to?" I asked him.

"No. In fact, I'm thinking of giving Tank a little more responsibility so I don't have to be away from you as much."

I stretched the seat belt as I leaned towards his side of the car to kiss his cheek."That's sweet, but I don't think Tank would agree with me."

Ranger looked over at me."He doesn't have to."

I laughed."And we're back to cranky again."

I could tell that he wanted to roll his eyes, and probably only the fact that I'd say something about it stopped him from doing it. Looks like I had some influence over Batman, too.

"Are we going to Quentin's house?" I asked.

"Yes."

"And he lives where?"

"In a house off Broad Street."

Houses were usually better than apartments when trying to apprehend someone. At least from the experiences I've had hunting people down they were. There wouldn't be as many nosy neighbors poking their heads out, trying to see what was going on. Or pulling out a gun like the seniors in my building did repeatedly. Even though I've tried, I still couldn't forget about that first job I did with Tank where the building got blown up because of an idiot who broke in with a bomb strapped to him and a 'helpful' neighbor. And strangely enough, that's one of the reasons why I like living in an apartment building instead of a house. I've needed those armed neighbors to get me out of a few sticky situations in the past.

When Ranger stopped for a light, I asked him what I was really interested in knowing.

"How are we going to do this?"

I didn't want to be left in the car twiddling my thumbs while Ranger captured my skip for me. Yes, I wanted help to get Cortiz, but I didn't want Ranger to do it for me. Or for him to think he _had_ to do it for me. The fact that Ranger often asked my opinion, and even for my help, meant a lot to me. Knowing that he thought I was capable was one of the reasons I could trust him easier than anyone else in my life. If someone with _Ranger's_ reputation saw potential in me, then I should believe I have some myself. At first I thought it was only because he wanted to sleep with me, but I quickly realized that wasn't it. I may not be the best at defending myself, but I'm very good at reading people. I have a scary kind of luck, even if that same luck causes me to get in over my head. And I have such an unassuming presence that people tend to tell me anything I want to know. That and I've perfected my lying skills over the years so I can manipulate people when I need to, which helps almost as much as a short skirt when it came to distraction jobs. Maybe I'm not a bad bounty hunter after all. Just one that uses a more_ unusual _approach to getting the job done. I couldn't kick someone's ass to get answers like Ranger does, but I can buy them coffee and sweet talk them into giving me what I was after. Different methods, sure, but it got the same results in the end. And maybe _that _was the important part to remember.

The light changed to green, and Ranger's eyes went from me to the road again."How do you want to do this?"

"I'm open to suggestions," I told him."I just want to be in on it."

"You will be in on it, Babe," Ranger said to me."But making sure you're okay takes precedence over anything else for me. If I think something is wrong, I need you to do what I tell you."

"Yes, sir," I said, trying to imitate Hal.

Ranger's lips curved, but his voice held no amusement."I'm serious, Steph. I don't care if Cortiz is caught today, next week, or next year. All I care about is you coming home with me without anymore scratches on you."

"I'm sorry," I told him as I brushed at the sudden tension in his jaw."I'm serious, too, Ranger. And I promise I'll listen to everything you say. But we're probably overreacting. Marcus is most likely gone and Quentin will be passed out on his couch in a drug-induced stupor."

"That's also possible." Ranger said.

"I _suppose_ it is. I was just hoping that if I said it out loud it would actually happen like that, but I think I've filled my quota of easy captures for this year," I told him."Remind me to tell you about Dewy later."

Ranger pulled up to a one-story, slightly rundown looking house. I bet when the house was built it's brand new shingles were painted a bright hopeful white, but looking at them now, years later, they've turned a dull gray from both mildew and age. There was a hole in the eave near the front door, possibly containing wildlife of some kind. And the little fence that separated the street from the sidewalk had lost most of it's pickets. It still had the makings of a cute house but someone with money to burn and a lot of time on their hands would have to be the one to buy it.

"Is he supposed to be living here with Marcus?" I asked Ranger.

"The house belonged to Quentin and Marcus' grandmother," Ranger told me."She died and left it to their mother. The mother disappeared with a boyfriend and Marcus was left to fend for himself and Quentin."

"If Marcus cared so much for him, he should have kept Quentin away from drugs in the first place, _and_ the people who use and sell them."

"Steph," Ranger said,"some people don't have a choice. You do what you have to do to survive."

"It just seems sad," I said to him."Marcus obviously loves his brother, but he still can't give him a better life or, at the very least, keep him out of the illegal parts of his."

"They made their choices, Babe."

"I know, stop feeling sorry for them ..."

"I didn't say that. That's one of the things that initially drew me to you, Steph. That you're capable of caring about people who don't usually inspire a lot of warm feelings."

"Believe me, Ranger, if you can put up with me then you aren't a lost cause in the caring department."

"There's nothing to_ 'put up' _with, Babe," Ranger said,"only things to enjoy."

I rolled my eyes at him, but couldn't stop the 'warm' feelings he mentioned from making me suddenly happier than a person ought to be when they were about to go into_ that _house.

Ranger pulled the keys out of the ignition and turned to me."We'll both go to the front door."

"I can take the back door if you need me to."

"No. I can't keep you safe if I can't see you," Ranger told me.

Jeez, guess I don't have to wonder where Tank got that line. Ranger probably told him that right before he sent Tank out with me. Since that's exactly what Tank said five minutes before he got his leg broken. I hope something bad wasn't about to happen after the same words were said again.

"Ready?" Ranger asked.

"Yes," I said.

I got out of the passenger's side and followed Ranger up the cracked sidewalk, keeping an eye above the door for anything larger than a mouse. Who was I trying to kid? If a mouse, even a baby one, landed in my hair I'd lock myself in the Cayenne and let Ranger do whatever the heck he wanted to with Quentin.

I stood off to the side as Ranger pulled out his gun and knocked on the door. No one answered. He knocked one more time and, when there was no response, tried the handle. Unlocked.

"Stay here," Ranger told me and slipped inside.

I had to fight the urge to tell him not to go in, but this is his job. And if I expected him to let me do mine, he deserved the same respect. I dug around my bag for my own gun while I listened for any hint of Ranger or a struggle. I was so focused on the house that I didn't notice that Marcus had come up behind me until I heard the distinct sound of a clip being inserted into his gun. Damn it, Stephanie! Why didn't you pull out your weapon at the same time as Ranger? Because I'm a dope, that's why. All that talk about me being able to shoot if I need to, and I end up without a gun in my hand at all. Well, that wasn't completely true. My hand did just brush against it inside my shoulder bag, but I wouldn't be able to get it now with Marcus pointing his own at me. Jeez, it was Harlo all over again.

"What the fuck do you want?" Marcus asked me.

"Umm ... I'm looking for Quentin."

"He ain't here."

"Do you know when he'll be back?" I asked.

He didn't say anything about Ranger so he must have just gotten here and thought I was alone. Good. Maybe he'd leave before Ranger saw him, or maybe I should be distracting Marcus so he wouldn't notice Ranger if he picked now to walk out of the house. Surprising a guy with a gun isn't a smart move unless you planned on doing it.

"I was hoping to talk to him," I told Marcus, slowly turning my body away from the house so Marcus would have his back to it in order to keep an eye on me.

"What the fuck do you have to talk to Quentin about?" Marcus said."You obviously ain't from around here."

"It's sort of personal," I told him.

"He didn't knock you up, did he? I fucking told him condoms were more important than drugs."

Well, that was sound advice even if it was coming out of a dealers mouth.

"No. It's nothing like that."

The gun came up towards my chest.

"Then what the hell do you want?" He asked."I'm not in the mood to play twenty questions."

Jeez, it looks like everyone was cranky today. I still didn't see Ranger, but at least I'd managed to get in front of Marcus without freaking him out, and could now see straight through the open door into the house.

"Actually, I work for the bonds ..."

I didn't get any further than that.

"Quentin isn't going back to jail," Marcus said, his voice deadly serious.

"He has to," I told him."If he doesn't get picked up today, he'll just get caught tomorrow."

"You're not paying attention," Marcus said."He's. Not. Going. Back. To. Jail."

God, men really were babies. First Macary and now this one. And Marcus wasn't even the one going to jail.

"Look, it'll only take an hour," I told Marcus."Vinnie will probably bail him right out again since he hasn't broken any new laws or tried to run. And if he does end up in jail, it'll only be for a night."

"He's not spending anymore time behind bars."

"If you were that concerned about him staying out of jail, you probably should have kept him away from the freakin' drugs to begin with."

That wasn't the smartest thing I could have said to him. His arm came up and it looked like he was trying to decide where to shoot me. In my head or my chest. I followed the barrel with my eyes as it moved up and down slightly between my heart and between my eyes.

"You don't know a fucking thing about us," Marcus said, his face turning a very angry shade of red.

"I know the best way to not get arrested is to not do anything illegal," I told him.

"Shut up!" Marcus shouted, and I could see his finger twitching on the trigger.

Crap. I pushed him too far. Stupid Stephanie strikes again. You never tell a guy who is trying to raise his little brother without help that he'd fucked up big time.

"I'm sorry," I told Marcus, trying to calm him down. Seems like I've been doing that a lot lately. Pissing people off and then trying to make them feel better after I did. Well, I didn't try making Macary feel better. He deserved to eat his own nuts. The jerk."You're right, I don't know anything about you. You probably did everything you could for him. Everyone knows that it's hard to control what kids do once they reach a certain age.

"I said_ shut up_," Marcus bit out.

I didn't know anything at all about raising children and it showed, because it looked like Marcus had decided on a chest shot. But he couldn't shoot me right out here in the open, could he? No one was outside, but that didn't mean the neighbors weren't watching us from their living room windows while they were talking to a 911 operator. Of course I'd just called most neighbors _nosy_, so maybe this was just karma having some fun at my expense.

"Maybe you should put the gun down," I said, trying to reason with him."It might give people the idea that you're thinking of using it on me." _Me _being one of those people.

"I_ am _thinking about using this gun on you," Marcus said.

"You can't just go around shooting people on your front lawn," I told him.

"Watch me."

My knees almost gave out in relief when I finally saw Ranger creeping up behind Marcus. I knew Ranger would be waiting for the right moment to act, but it seemed to take a lot longer than it should have. I flicked my eyes briefly to him hoping that Marcus wouldn't notice. Ranger gave his head a slight jerk to the right. I took that to mean that I should be jumping in that direction as soon as he told me to. Luckily, Ranger was in line with Marcus so I could keep watching Ranger's mouth while he counted without it being too obvious what I was doing.

"One," Ranger mouthed,"two." And before he finished saying three, I was already halfway to the ground praying that no one owned a large dog in the neighborhood. I didn't want to end up face-planting into a pile of doggy-processed food.

As soon as I was out of the line of fire, Ranger lunged forward and grabbed Marcus' right arm, bringing it down hard across his knee. The crack of his bone was drowned out by the gunshot. Marcus cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Ranger was on him half a second later, checking him for more weapons. I didn't hear any other screaming so I figured the shot that Marcus fired hadn't hit anyone.

"Babe," Ranger said, while he was still going through Marcus' pockets,"you all right?"

I checked myself out. My hands were dirty, and I might have a scrape on my cheek from the rock I landed on, but those were minor considering the bullet that Marcus had just fired could have been lodged inside of me right now.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I told him.

I headed to where Marcus' gun fell from his hand. Jeez, I couldn't even make it four days without someone aiming a gun at me. I picked up the gun and walked over to Ranger. His eyes scanned my body for any signs of injury and lingered for an extra second on my cheek. Guess I was right in assuming I'd had an unfortunate encounter with a rock. Marcus was fighting back tears and looked a little shocky, but seeing as how I would have looked_ a lot _worse if he would have shot me, I was having a hard time feeling bad for him. I couldn't tell exactly what part of his arm was the problem because Marcus was cradling it protectively against his body.

"Did you have to break something?" I asked Ranger, handing him Marcus' gun. I hope my prints being on it wasn't going to affect anything, but I trusted Ranger to remove them if he needed to."You know, I'm getting a little tired of people thinking it's okay to shoot me."

He pocketed the gun for the time being and looked at me."Me, too, Babe."

"At least it was different this time, since he pointed the gun at my chest instead of my head."

"Stephanie," Ranger said, his eyes narrowed in warning.

Uh-oh, my full name."Okay, this one was_ really _too soon for jokes. Got it," I told him, remembering what he said at my parents' house.

Ranger hauled Marcus up to his feet and Marcus whimpered.

"Shouldn't we be calling an ambulance or getting him to the hospital?" I asked Ranger.

"In a minute. Where's Quentin?" Ranger asked Marcus.

"Fuck off," Marcus said, in between gulps of air.

Not a smart move, Marcus, I thought. I've seen Ranger in action with the Slayer Connie, Lula, and I had kidnapped, and I knew that this could end badly for him.

"I've got plenty of time," Ranger said in that icy voice that was very different from the one he uses on me. This one made me almost wet my pants, but not in the fun way.

Since Ranger had said that he didn't care about apprehending Quentin, I had a feeling this was more about Marcus threatening me. I was almost positive that Ranger would listen to me if I told him to take Marcus to the hospital, so I was willing to wait a minute to see if Marcus would give up his brother before I stepped in.

"If you want that arm fixed up you're going to have to tell me where Quentin is," Ranger told Marcus."Keep in mind that I've seen what happens to limbs that haven't been treated correctly. Infection can set in and you could lose it. Or it could heal improperly, leaving you unable to use it at all. The choice is yours. Most people lead normal lives after losing part of their body."

I knew he was saying this for Marcus' benefit, but it was making me a little queasy. This Ranger is the one I know the least about. I could see _this_ Ranger in an enemy infested jungle, leading men through deserts, or jumping out of helicopters. This particular Ranger was alarming, impressive, and magnificent, but also more than a little frightening. My nipples noticed all this, too, and responded to him like all the other Rangers they've had the pleasure of being exposed to. I was still more comfortable around my gentler Ranger, the one I was able to play with, but I love the man and every facet of him that make up the incredible package that he is.

"I'm not selling out my brother," Marcus said, obviously in pain.

"Your loyalty is commendable," Ranger told him, still in that detached tone,"but you're not that stupid. You're willing to endure weeks, if not months, of pain just so your brother won't spend a night in jail? And that's even if it will come to that. I'm going to ask you again. Where's Quentin? You tell me and we'll be at the hospital in fifteen minutes. They have something that can help with the pain."

I didn't know if Ranger was only telling him that to get him to cooperate, or if the hospital still gave pain killers to known drug addicts or dealers when something like this happened. Maybe they only gave them a small dose when they were setting the bone or wrapping a cast around it. In any case, I could see the pain was starting to wear him down. I was just about to tell Ranger that we should come back for Quentin later and take Marcus to the hospital now, but Marcus broke before I could open my mouth.

"He's staying at a friend's house."

"What friend?" Ranger asked him."I want a name and an address."

"Devon Thawyer," Marcus said."He lives on Main Street. Green house with a chain link fence in front."

"You'll be staying at the hospital with one of my men until we have Quentin in custody," Ranger told him."And if I find out you're lying to me, I'm going to break something else of yours that won't be as easily fixed."

Remind me never to piss off Ranger, I thought to myself. I like all my parts the way they are. Fortunately for me, Ranger does, too.

Ranger cut his eyes to me and gave me a small smile. He could switch between emotions faster than I could even on my worst PMS day. Going from intimidating to kind in an instant.

"_Your_ parts are _always _safe with me, Babe," he said, changing his tone to the one I was familiar with.

"That's a load off my mind," I said, smiling at him.

He took Marcus to the Cayenne and since he couldn't cuff his hands together, Ranger cuffed his left arm to the bar near the back window behind the driver's seat. He went to the trunk and bagged Marcus' gun before putting it back inside his jacket pocket. He got out the first aid kit and took an alcohol wipe and some antibiotic cream from it before coming over to me.

"Ranger, I'm fine," I told him."It's only a scrape."

Ranger ignored me, cleaned my cheek, and gently put ointment on it. When he was done, he cupped my face in his hand and pressed a kiss close to my 'injury'. Okay, so maybe a little medical care, when administered by Ranger, wasn't so bad after all.

"All done, Babe," Ranger said, and tossed the stuff back into the trunk of the car.

"Are you sure?" I asked."If you give me a second I'm sure I can find something else that needs a little TLC."

Ranger flashed me the 100-watt smile and pulled out his phone before we buckled ourselves in to take Marcus to Saint Francis.

"Hal," Ranger said into his cell,"send someone to Saint Francis. We're dropping Marcus Cortiz off at the emergency room and then going after Quentin. I want someone to wait with Marcus until we have the brother, and who will also be free to take him to the TPD afterwards. Marcus threatened Stephanie and I want him locked up for it. It'll be better for everyone if I'm not the one bringing him in. We're about ten minutes from the hospital and someone better be there to take him off our hands." He listened to Hal for a beat then disconnected.

"And?" I asked when Ranger didn't say anything.

"Vince and Ramon are in the area and they'll be there before us," Ranger told me before he pulled away from the curb and drove to the ER.

Marcus was quiet the whole way there and I couldn't help feeling sorry for him now. He tried to kill me, but he _was_ only trying to protect his brother. God, I was such a wuss. He's sells drugs, threatens to kill people regularly, the residents of Stark don't even like him, and here I am feeling bad for the guy. I rolled my eyes at_ myself _this time.

We pulled into the lot of the emergency room and Ramon came over to us.

"Hey, Steph," Ramon said, after he'd opened up the back door.

Ranger got out of the Cayenne and went to fill Vince in. I could guess as to what was being said. Broken arm, brother to pick up, don't let him out of your sight ...

"Hey, Ramon," I said."Funny meeting you here."

He smiled as he uncuffed Marcus' wrist."We were out riding a standard patrol. It was pretty boring until Hal called.

"I'd kill for boring right about now," I told him.

"I hope you don't mind," Ramon said,"but I'm asking Vince to tell me everything that happened as soon as Ranger is back in the car."

"Knock yourself out," I told him. News flew through Rangeman almost as quickly as it did through the Burg. The only difference is that the guys are better at keeping their sources, and the fact that they know something, a secret.

Ramon helped Marcus out and closed the door. Ranger was back in the driver's seat a minute later.

"You think Marcus was lying?" I asked Ranger.

"No," Ranger said.

Ranger was good at telling when someone wasn't being honest with him. He was even better at sniffing out a fib than my mother.

He drove through the Burg and down Main Street. The green house Marcus told us about was easy to spot. Ranger parked right in front of it, not even trying to hide the fact that we were there.

"I want you to stay in the car for this one," Ranger said me.

"Sure."

I wasn't going to argue with him. Ranger didn't like it when people tried to hurt me, and Harlo was still too fresh in his mind to see something similar happen again. He'd also made me tell him about Macary, so even though he hadn't seen Macary attack me, he knew about it. Staying in the safety of the car was the most compassionate thing I could think of to do for him right now. I turned in the passenger seat and watched while Ranger knocked on the door.

It took five minutes from the time the door opened to the time he walked a cuffed Quentin to the Cayenne. He secured him in the back and then angled behind the wheel.

"Show off," I whispered under my breath.

Ranger looked over at me and gave me a small smile before calling Vince."We have Quentin," Ranger said to him."When he's released, you can bring Marcus in." He hung up and reclipped his cell before heading to the station.

"Are you talking about my brother Marcus?" Quentin asked.

He seemed a little glassy-eyed, but not completely out of it like Javier thought he'd be.

Ranger wasn't in a chatty mood, so I looked back at Quentin and answered his question.

"Yes," I told him.

"How bad is? What'd he do?" Quentin asked."Was it because of me?"

The tiny amount of maternal instincts that I do possess kicked in, but I squelched them. Marcus and Quentin were old enough to decide what they wanted out of life. And if it was to stay out of the system, then now would be the perfect time to start working on it.

"He got himself into a little trouble," I said to Quentin."You may have the opportunity to ask him what he did yourself at the station. And I'm betting you'll be out of there way before he is. You may want to start thinking about how to keep yourself from spending the rest of your life there, too."

Ranger made the drive to the Trenton PD in silence. I couldn't blame him. It's been a rough week for him. I always thought it was harder to watch a person you love go through something difficult than to go through it yourself. And I was getting real sick of ending up at the station because of them.

"You coming in with me?" Ranger asked.

"Nope," I said."I'm good."

"You'll most likely have to talk to them about Marcus," Ranger said.

I blew out a sigh."Fine," I told him."It's probably better just to get everything over with all at once."

Ranger and I stowed all of our toys in the lockbox under his seat before left the car. Ranger took care of Quentin and Marcus' gun while I talked to Eddie about my most recent altercation. I knew he was looking out for his brother so my heart wasn't really into sticking it to Marcus, but he did try to kill me and I couldn't exactly let that go.

Twenty-five minutes later, I was done. But during those minutes, Eddie managed to restore my faith in friendship, since he was more concerned and sympathetic than exasperating today.

"All set?" Ranger asked me when I met him at the door.

"Yes. And I'm turning off my phone before Connie calls me with someone else."

"Good plan, Babe."

"You're only saying that because you're with me," I said to him,"otherwise you'd be more pissed than Connie."

Ranger smiled and kissed the top of my head. His hand rested gently on my back when he opened the door for me. As he did I happened to catch a glimpse of Joe standing ten feet away watching us, but by then Ranger was moving me into the not-so-fresh Jersey air so I didn't have a chance to say anything to him even if I had wanted to.

Ranger stopped next to the Cayenne and dangled the keys to it in front of me."Want to drive?"

I could feel my eyes almost pop out of my head. Ranger never let me drive unless my butt was already in the driver's seat and I was picking him up somewhere.

"You're going to let me drive back to Rangeman?" I asked, sensing I was being set up. For what, I didn't know.

"No."

See, I knew it! "But you just said ..."

"Our day isn't over yet, Babe," Ranger told me.

"It isn't?" I asked.

"No. We have one more stop to make."

"Do you have someone to pick up for Rangeman?" I asked, since I knew Connie hadn't called me.

"No."

"Are we going to drop off my receipt at the bonds office?" I was hoping to wait until Monday to deal with Connie and Lula, knowing that by tonight my close call with Marcus will be all everyone is talking about. Once Eddie gets home and tells my cousin Shirley-the-Whiner, who also happens to be his wife, what happened my mother will be the first person called.

"No."

"Okay," I said, blowing out a breath,"stop with the one word answers. Where are we going?"

"Quakerbridge."

I was so shocked by what he said that I didn't even whack him for giving me another one word answer.

"Quakerbridge?" I repeated."Why are we going there? You don't like to go shopping." And, at the moment, neither did I.

"Steph," Ranger said softly,"do you honestly think I wouldn't notice that you're nervous about going back there?"

"Yes!" I said to him."There's no way you could have known."

"If you didn't have an issue with Quakerbridge, you would have chosen to go after your skip while she was there and used her as an excuse to check out the sale at Macy's."

Damn. He knew me too well.

"It was much easier to find her at her house than at a crowded mall," I told him. That at least sounded plausible.

"Babe."

"Okay," I said,"so I'm a little weirded out by the place. I'll get over it."

"Yes, you will," Ranger said, opening my hand and curling my fingers around the keys."In about twenty minutes." I took a deep breath and walked around to the driver's door. Ranger followed to get his Glock and he handed me my gun, pepper spray, and stun gun, before shutting the door and sliding into the passenger's seat.

"If I'm the one in control of the car," I said to him before starting the Cayenne,"what makes you think I won't just drive to the bakery instead?"

"Because you don't like to be afraid of anything, Babe," Ranger said."And it's driving you crazy that you're letting someone like Harlo have power over you, even in this small way."

I didn't know how to respond to his perceptiveness, or to his knowing that I hated letting Harlo get to me like he has. I settled on not saying anything, gave Ranger a tight smile, and reluctantly drove to Quakerbridge.

I pulled off Route One and drove around looking for parking space. I wasn't quite ready to park by Macy's yet, so I found a spot at the mall entrance. We got out of the Porsche and Ranger wrapped his arm around my waist as we headed into the building. Ranger kept his arm tight around me while we retraced the route Harlo had dragged me. Having Ranger by my side, and his strength to draw from, helped me a lot. And it wasn't long before I started noticing the clothes instead of reliving what was going through my mind that day. A half hour into it, I was trying on shoes and scanning the new shipment of dresses that must have just come in, since they weren't here when Lula and I were shopping.

"That took less time than I thought it would," Ranger said to me, after I made him stop at yet another sale rack.

"Yeah," I said to him,"who knew it was like riding a bike? I'm back in action." Now it was only my credit card that was cringing.

Ranger was tolerating the mall air well. And he wasn't pulling a gun on anyone who stepped too close to where I was looking, so I think this trip helped both of us. We had dinner at the food court, and I could almost forget about seeing Harlo's gun pointed at me as I coaxed Ranger into eating a french fry. I knew he'd go along with anything I wanted if it helped me get past what had happened here. And I loved him even more for it. Even in my wildest dreams, and fantasies, I never would have pictured Ranger walking hand in hand with me through the mall, but here he was doing it. He didn't complain that I took too long. And he didn't continually ask when we were leaving. He was giving me whatever time I needed to work through this.

I was just about to tell him that I was ready to go back to Rangeman, when Victoria's Secret came into sight.

"You can wait here," I told Ranger, when we stopped in front of the store.

"Why?"

"So you won't see what I buy before I'm wearing it," I told him. Wasn't that obvious? It was like not seeing the wedding dress before the wedding, only naughtier.

"It's called _Victoria's_ Secret, Babe," Ranger informed me."Not_ Stephanie's _Secret."

I rolled my eyes at him."Stay." I said, and quickly walked into the store.

It didn't take me very long. I already had my eye on something when I was here last time so I only needed to find the color I wanted in my size and pay for it. In minutes I was back with Ranger. He offered to carry the bag for me, but I had a feeling the only reason he did was to sneak a peek at my purchase, so I carried the bag myself. The pj's were sexy, but modest compared to what Lula was going to buy. They were a silkier, much skimpier, version of my usual tank top and shorts. I chose a pale blue color because Lula told me that blue would make my eyes stand out more, which would in turn make a part of Ranger stand out more when he saw me in them.

I didn't end up buying anything else, but I felt like I came away from this with something more than just pajamas. Instead of hearing Harlo yelling at me, I would now hear Ranger laugh as I poked a french fry into his mouth. The image of Harlo's gun was replaced with the pink shopping bag Ranger had made a grab for. And the fear I'd felt the day I thought I was going to lose half my head, was now replaced with so much love for Ranger that I thought my head would explode from trying to contain it all.

We walked back to Ranger's car, and I turned to him to brush my lips across his.

"Thank you for today, Ranger," I told him."For coming to my rescue twice."

"Your welcome, Babe," Ranger said, pulling me close."I'll _always_ be there when you need me. I hope you know that."

I leaned back and looked up at him."I do," I said, and handed the keys to him."You can drive back. I wouldn't want you to snoop while I'm busy trying keep us from crashing."

"I'm hurt, Steph," he said to me."Are you saying you don't trust me?"

"With everything else, _yes_," I told him."With my lingerie,_ no_."

He smiled at me before taking the driver's seat. Ranger pointed the Cayenne towards Rangeman. In less than a half an hour, we were out of the car. When we got to the elevator, I avoided looking at the camera since I could feel a blush starting. Everybody knew what a Victoria's Secret bag looked like. And a control room full of over-testosteroned men would know exactly what that bag meant.

We made it up to Ranger's apartment after an excruciatingly long minute. Okay, it was less than a minute. I knew it was less because I'd been counting to give myself something to do besides think about what the men were saying about us, and the doors opened on the sixteenth Mississippi. But I swear it felt like it'd taken a lot longer. Ranger unlocked his front door and waited only long enough for the door to be locked behind us before catching me, and the bag I was still holding onto, up into his arms.

"Now about that handcuff idea ..." Ranger said, his voice trailing off.

I buried my still burning face into his neck as he carried me to his room. The night didn't exactly include handcuffs, but Ranger definitely got even. Many, many times. And I got my money's worth from Victoria's Secret even for the short amount of time my new pj's were technically on me. And any thoughts of Harlo, Macary, and Marcus, vanished the second Ranger touched me. Ranger had told me when we picked up Marcus that I was safe with him. And both my body and my mind reveled in the feeling.

**A/N: I looked online to see if it was possible to break an arm like Ranger did here. I couldn't find the exact answer I was looking for so I'm going to play the creative license card in this case and say that I most likely exaggerated the injury for the sake of my story. **


End file.
